


Monsters

by SummerLove



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, Loosely Based on TWD?, M/M, Multi, They call them biters though, They pop out throughout, kinda not though, lots of characters, zombie fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-02-01 00:55:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12693708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerLove/pseuds/SummerLove
Summary: It was a Tuesday when Light Yagami watched his father leave home to work on an odd case. That was two weeks ago. Now, some sort of plague has been spread and Light watched as people died and returned what he can only describe as monsters. The world has ended and Light needs to keep those close to him safe.





	1. Chapter 1

“Stay in your homes. I repeat, stay in your rooms. Keep children..awa...from..win..” 

The words dissolves into static.It was impossible to figure out what the man before had been saying. Light Yagami, seventeen years old, took the radio in his hand; a frown on his face as he tried to get the signal back. The static continues, no matter how long he messes with the device. He let out a sigh, tossing it to the side. It was useless now. There is a soft whimper from behind him, he turns to see his younger sister; Sayu plops on the couch, holding her knees in an attempt to comfort herself. Their mother, who is sitting by her, rubs gentle circles into her back. Sayu turned to Light.

“Did the radio stop working?” She asks. Light could only nod, unable to find it in him to form words. “What about Dad? He never came back from work, ever since ..this started.” 

Light frowns, “No sign of him either.” 

Their father Soichiro Yagami was a police officer. When this all started, he was called to assist in the situation. They thought this was the work of some crazed cannibal or something when it all started since the deaths started at a very small number. At least, compared to now, it was a very small number. 

Light stands up before walking to the window and staring out. A bunch of people were crowding around something. They grab and claw at it, greedy to get a taste out of whatever they were crowding. The only hint that told him what they were eating was the abandoned bicycle. He feels sick again, and quickly grabs the curtains to close them before either his mother or Sayu could see. 

What made this case different than all of the other ones was that the dead come back to life. They didn’t know that before. Not until after Light’s Dad had left and had become either trapped or one of..them. Could they still be called people? Monsters seemed like a more fitting term. They died, came back to life, then walked around and ate the living whenever they could get their hands on them. When the military came through their part of town, Light observed that the monsters would die when they were shot in the head.

“Light?” His mother calls softly. 

“Yeah, what is it?” He turns to face her. 

She is pale, holding Sayu against her. The young girl was breathing heavily, staring at the door while clinging to her mother. Light turns to the door, feeling his blood drain as he hears the noise of the monsters clawing at the door and slamming into it. They had found them. Stay in your homes? Bullshit. They couldn’t do that anymore. The door rattles as the weight of the monsters on the other side started to become too much.

“Get upstairs,” Light shouts, “Now!”

Their mother grabs Sayu, “Listen to your brother, sweetie. Come on.” The two of them go towards the stairs, heading up. Light bites his lip, watching the door before he backs up and following his mother and sister up the stairs. What should do they do? They need a plan. How do they get out? Could they go out the window? Was it safe? Did they have any weapons in case of attack? 

“Light,” his mother says again, “In your father’s office, in one of the drawer, there’s a gun.” 

He turns to her, taking his eyes off the door. She continues, “Go get it. There’s some ammo in it, your father keeps it there for safety. I hated the idea that he kept a gun where you two could get to it, but it’s going to come in handy. I’m going to take Sayu into her room. When you get the gun, join us in there.” 

“Okay, I understand.” 

The rattling from the door got louder before a crash is heard. Sayu shrieks. They got in. Their mother runs further up the stairs, practically dragging Sayu with her. Light follows behind. When they were up, Light ran into his father’s office while their mother took Sayu into her room. Light runs up to his father’s desk, staring at all the drawers before beginning to open each of them up. Letters, files, pens, and pencils began to spill out in Light’s rush. He digs through each of them, looking for it. He could hear the monsters coming up the stairs. Fuck, did he close the door to the office? He didn’t remember.

Some more papers spill out of the desk’s drawers. Light could feel the panic begin to set in. Where was the gun?! He looks behind him, paling as he saw one of those things start to walk toward the office door. He quickly ducks behind the desk, holding his breath. While underneath the desk, he could only see the thing’s feet. It walks closer to the entrance of the office. He needs a weapon, and he needs it now. Light looks around at all the materials on the ground. Pens and papers, he couldn’t use any of that as a weapon. He looks up to see his father’s desk lamp. Could he use that? He frowns, with enough brute force maybe. It was better than nothing. Light reaches up and grabs the lamp off of the desk, pulling it down with him.

With the lamp in hand, Light checks to see where the thing is. He pauses. It wasn’t by the entrance anymore? Where did it go? Light frowns, standing up slowly and looking around the room. The monster is gone-absolutely no sign of it. Where was it? Wait, no first he had to find the gun. Light sets the lamp down before going through the drawers again. There were more files and notes his Dad had made. Then - Ah ha! In the final drawer, underneath a yellow folder, there was a simple pistol. He takes it out, examining it. Light had never used a gun before. All he had to do was pull the trigger right? He hopes that movie portrayal of firing a gun is accurate. That’s all he had. 

Then, his thoughts are interrupted by Sayu’s scream. He feels his heart pounding as he quickly runs out of the office. He hears his mother’s scream next, then the snarls of one of the monsters. Light runs down the hall. Sayu’s room door was open-the thing from earlier! Of course, it went to Sayu’s room next! Damn it! He should’ve attacked it when he had the chance! Light runs up to the room and pointing the gun.

Sayu is backed up against the wall, tears welling up in her eyes. Their mother was.... Next to her. She’s fighting off one of them. The same one from before. Light’s breath caught in his throat. It was clawing and biting its way into his mother’s flesh. She was bleeding out. Light could only imagine the excruciating pain she was in. The only thing keeping her from letting go was that Sayu was behind her, unharmed. Light points the gun at it, putting his hand on the trigger. 

“No, Light!” His mother shouts, “Don’t shoot!” 

“What? Why not?” Light says, keeping the gun pointed. If he shot now, he could avoid hitting his mother. 

“There’s more downstairs! If you shoot, they might hear you and come up!”

As she says that, the monster bites into her shoulder. She prepares to let out a scream before biting down on her lip to silence herself. Sayu’s the one that lets out the scream. 

“Sayu, go to Light.” She groans, pulling the monster off of her. Light was shaking now, trying to keep the gun trained on the monster. Sayu whimpers, quickly crawling to Light. He grabs her, placing her next to him.

The biter struggles in their mother’s grip. She looks up at them, “Go out the window.”

“What are you talking about, Mom?” Light frowns.

“You’ll be able to escape, when you get out of here. Go to your father’s workplace. I.. I’m sure he’s still alive. I know it.” 

The monster breaks free of their mother’s grip biting into her arm. She lets out a scream this time. Light pales, accidentally pressing the trigger hitting the thing in the leg. They could hear snarling from downstairs. Then footsteps. Their mom was right. It would attract the monsters.

“What about you, Mom?” Sayu whimpers.

“I’m going to stay here and hold them back long enough for you to to get out.”

It was Light’s turn now. “We can’t leave you here!” 

“Look at me, Light! I’m bleeding out! I won’t make it out of the backyard!” 

Sayu let out a sob, clinging to Light. Their mother turns back to the monster, holding it down. It claws at her trying to escape her grip. She was breathing heavily. Light could tell her grip was weakening. The monsters had gotten up the stairs now. Sayu closes the door quickly, locking it. Perhaps it would hold if only for a moment. 

“That doesn’t mean we can’t leave you, maybe.. Maybe Dad can help!” Light frowns, feeling a small strain in his voice. 

“I’ll become one of them before we get there! Just go! Get out the window!” She huffs. Then, her grip gives out, the monster falls onto her. It immediately starts pulling at her skin. She screams out in pain. 

“Go, Light! Take Sayu and go!” She tears up, turning to Light. Now, Light could feel his eyes becoming wet. They couldn’t help her. The monsters are banging on Sayu’s door now. As if demanding to get a bite out of the snack. Light raises the gun, shooting the one snacking on their mother. She let out a sigh of relief, but made no move. Light couldn’t do anything now. He rubs at his eyes angrily. At least he could help his mom get a few moments of relief before the rest get to her.

“Sayu..” He chokes out, “Go out the window. I’ll be behind you.”

“Light, we can’t..!” 

“We have too!” He growls, lightly pushing her closer to the window. Sayu lets out a sob, before opening the window climbing out as she was directed. Their mother gives a grateful smile to Light. There was a small crash from the door. They were going to break through any second now. Light watches his mother, opening his mouth to say something, but she gets to it first.

“Keep Sayu safe. Yourself too. Okay?” 

“..Okay. I promise.” 

“Thank you.” The door breaks open. 

Light goes out the window immediately. He only gets a glimpse of the monsters running towards his mother with their greedy hungry hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment! They make an author's day. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Next thing they know, Light and Sayu are running through the city alleyways. Light keeps a hold of Sayu’s wrist as they run. Routes of the city go through Light’s head. They couldn’t use the main streets to get to the police headquarters. Subways were obviously down, and more than likely overrun. The best way to get there is to keep through the alleyways. They could avoid any of the monsters that way. They could try to slip past or use brute force to take it down. Light frowns, looking around before spotting two silver bars. He grabs one of them before giving the other one to Sayu.

The young girl takes it. Light could see that her eyes were still watering. She is trying her best not to make any noise, but every once and awhile Light could hear her sniffle. Light wanted to say something to comfort her but nothing came to him. He is also afraid he would start crying as well and that would be no good. One of them needed to keep their cool, and it had to be Light. He was the older one after all. 

Now, back to the task at hand. They had to get to Headquarters. If he’s right then if they kept going the way they were, they could get there without any trouble. He begins walking, occasionally turning to check on Sayu. The only problem now is how they would get inside without getting any unwanted attention. Would the doors be open? God, he hopes they are. This is his and Sayu’s best chance. 

“Light?” Sayu mutters, “Do you think Dad is still alive?” 

Light stops to think. Did he really? Their dad being alive would be very beneficial.. But, did Light really think that his Dad is alive?.. He had too. There’s no way he would go down without a fight. Light had looked up to him his whole life wanting nothing but to be like him when he was older.

“Yeah, I think he’s still alive.” He answers honestly. Sayu smiles softly at that. She doesn’t say anything for the rest of the walk.

They were walking for a good thirty minutes before the headquarters doors come into view on the other side of the street. A street, which’s currently surrounded by biters, Light bites his lip in thought. What could they do? Sayu peeks out of the alley then turns to Light.

She whispers, “Could we find a way to distract them?” 

“With what?” He whispers back.

Sayu looks around in thought before spotting a large piece of rubble. She picks it up in her hand, before turning to him. 

“One of us can throw this, and while the biters are going toward it, we make a dash for the doors?” 

Light frowns. That’s risky. What if it didn’t work? They could give away their location. How smart are these biters anyway? Hopefully, not a lot. They seem to just respond to natural stimuli like sounds and probably either sight or smell since they were able to tell that the Yagami’s were inside their house. 

“How about it, Light? Can we try?” Sayu watches him. 

Sayu’s idea is all they had at this point. He takes the rubble out of her hand.

“I’ll be the one to throw it. You run ahead of me, and I’ll follow you.” 

“But-”

“No buts, now get ready.”

She pouts at him before getting into a running position. Light looks out into the road. He has to throw it some distance away from the building to give them time to run.. He wraps his fingers around the rubble before launching into the air. It flies a good few yards before hitting a window of a bus and shattering it. Light cringes at the noise but when all of their heads turned towards the bus then start to run towards it, Light decides that the bus didn’t need its window anyway.  Sayu begins to run towards the entrance, Light following behind her as fast as they could. The biters were still running towards the but curious to see if the noise is their next meal, while their actual next meal runs right past them. 

The two of them make it to the entrance. Sayu grabs the door handle trying to push on it to open but to no avail. 

“It’s locked!” She gasps, pushing on it more harder in hopes that it would pop open. Light pales. Oh no..this is exactly what he had feared. He turns towards the biters, they were beginning to exit the bus. The door’s made out of glass.. Could he break it? No.. If there were people inside, he’d endanger them too. He’d also make the biters realize they were there. Sayu gives up trying to push on the door, looking around and holding her silver bar tightly. She breathes heavily, the biters were walking back. They would spot them soon. 

“Light.. What do we do?” 

“I..I..um..we..” Light had no idea. He stares through the glass. The front desk is completely empty. There was not a single person in sight. Was there someone even inside? Sayu lets out a cry as one of the biters approaches her, she hits it with the bar throwing it back onto the ground. 

“We have to go, Light!”

“Where..?” He turns to her, his eyes wide.

“I don’t know! Anywhere!” She frowns. The biters were approaching them now, some had noticed them. Sayu was knocking them back the best she could. She didn’t have enough strength to kill them. 

Light bashes one of them with the bar managing to slam its head into the wall and killing it. He was breathing heavily turning to stare at the glass doors. What now? They didn’t know where to go. No way, they would survive if they even start running now. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the camera move. It was very brief, but it definitely did move. He walks over to where the camera is pointing. 

“Is there someone inside? I saw the camera move. You’re in there, right?” Lights says. He hopes they can hear him through the camera.

“Light? We’ve gotta go!” Sayu shouts. Light ignores her.

“Dad, are you in there?” Light whines out, “It’s Light and Sayu Yagami.. Our home was attacked. Please open the door. Can you hear us? We’re going to die if you don’t open the door..!”

“Light! Come on!” She cries out pushing another one to the side. Most of the monsters had noticed them now, they were coming towards them. 

“Open the door, please. Help us! Dad! Whoever is in there, don’t leave us here to die!”

Nothing happens. Light could only stare desperately into the camera. Sayu was grabbing at him now. There were too much for her to hold back. Light could feel his eyes well up again. Damnit! He turns around hitting the monsters back and slamming the bar into some of their heads. Sayu sticks close to him before stabbing her bar into one of the biter’s eyes. It falls to the floor. Light winces at the sight. He never thought he would have ever seen Sayu do that to anyone.. or anything. Light turns to the camera one more time. It didn’t move again. They had been backed against the doors to the headquarters. One of the biters reaches out towards Sayu, extending its hand to scratch at her. Light slices his bar over its hand, tearing its hand off. 

“We’re going to die here.” Sayu says, gawking at the monsters cornering them. Light fights off two of them. If only they ran. He should’ve left when Sayu told them that they had to go, instead of clinging to the hope that the person inside would let them in. Now, it was over. They had nowhere to go. 

 

_ Click.  _

 

Sayu bats her eyes at the noise, then presses her back against the door to the building. It pushes in slightly at her weight. She pauses. The door was  _ open. _

“They opened the door, Light!” 

Light thrusts into the door to realize she was right. He feels his heart doing a leap as he pushes the door further open, running inside with Sayu before pulling the doors closed and pushing down on the lock. The biters were banging on the door, groaning at the loss of their meal. Light and Sayu ogle at them through the glass. They weren’t breaking that any time soon. They look at each other before sharing a grin.  _ They did it. _

“Excuse me?”

Sayu jumps at the voice, grabbing at Light for safety. He grabs his gun, turning towards the voice before blinking. It’s an elderly man. The man raises his hands up, watching them in shock. He didn’t expect for Light to have been carrying a weapon. Light glares at him. Was this who saved them? Light slowly lowers his gun and the old man gives him a small smile. 

“You are Light and Sayu Yagami, correct?”

“Yes..” Light raises an eyebrow.

“Your father is waiting for you. I’ll lead you to him.”

Sayu perks up at that. She grins, running after the old man when he starts to walk up the stairs. Light let out a sigh of relief.. So, his father was still alive. He gets up and follows Sayu and the man up. 

“By the way,” Sayu smiles, “What’s your name, Mister?”

“You may call me Watari.” 

Light hums, “Thank you for saving us then, Watari.”

“Oh no,” Watari smiles in amusement, “I was not the one who saved you.” 

He didn’t go into any more detail. Light raises an eyebrow. Was it his father that opened the doors then? Maybe one of the other survivors? At this rate, it didn’t matter. They were safe. That’s all Light cared about. Watari leads them upstairs into a room. Once they were inside, Light and Sayu see their father with a few officers from the police force and one young-looking man sitting in an office chair. 

“Dad!” Sayu cries out, running to him.

“Sayu..” Soichiro Yagami opens up his arms, hugging his daughter when she got to him. Light walks over quietly, watching them. Sayu begins to cry again, holding onto her father. He could only hug her and whisper apologies. Eventually, Soichiro let her go then put his arms around Light giving his son a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re safe..”

“Yeah, me too.” He sighs. Soichiro smiles then lets his son go, turning to the entrance where Watari was standing. As if looking for someone. 

“Where’s your mother?” He asks.

Light couldn’t say anything. He just stared at his father, watching as his curious gaze becomes one of sadness. Sayu let out a sobs, covering her face with her hands. 

“She..didn’t make it, did she?” Soichiro sighs.

“No,” Light says, “She didn’t..” 

Their father only nods, going to his daughter putting her hands on her shoulder. He whispers something to her and she nods wiping her eyes. They shared one more hug. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second Chapter! I'm thinking of releasing a chapter once a day for now, since I already have a lot of chapters written already. Anyone waiting for L though. He shows up next chapter.
> 
> Leave a comment, they make an author's day! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Now that Light could relax, he takes a moment to take in his surroundings. The room was relatively small. A red velvet carpet and some black leather couches. There was a long keyboard, that they probably use to control the building. Then a few monitors that were giving them feedback of what was going on outside. Light raises an eyebrow. So they could see them. He knew he wasn’t crazy when he saw the camera move. 

As for the people, most of them Light recognizes from whenever he came with his father to work. There was Aizawa, Mogi, Matsuda, Ide, and Ukita. Then, there was Watari and the mystery man who hadn’t said anything yet. Light took in his appearance. He was attractive, Light could admit, but the man looked like a complete mess. After all, he had disheveled hair and he wore a baggy white t-shirt and wrinkled jeans. Light wouldn’t wear that kind of outfit even if a gun was pointed at his head. It was too casual. On top of that, he had some very dark bags under his eyes. Did this guy ever sleep? Then, the man’s posture was also all wrong. Light wasn’t picky but sitting with your knees up to your chest up was just wrong. 

Soichiro must have noticed Light staring, he gave his son a wary smile. Light catches on that this was..natural and he shouldn’t question it.  Even if he wants too.

“Light, this is..” Soichiro motions toward the man. Watari clears his throat, interrupting Soichiro before he could finish.

“Ryuzaki. He and I came to Japan in request to help with the string of murders at the beginning of this..” 

Light blinks. So he was a detective. Poor guy. He was brought here to solve a murder case.. But still, the fact he’s here means that the government did think it was murder. A single person or even an organization couldn’t cause this though. That much was obvious. 

“Is Japan the only place like this? We could take the survivors out of here.” Light says.

“Impossible.” Ryuzaki replies.  _ He speaks! _ Light thinks.. 

“Why?” Light raises an eyebrow. 

“Japan isn’t the only country infected. Whatever this is, it spreads. We’ve lost contact with the officials in other countries as well.” 

Light blinks, “Infected? So.. this is a disease?”

“That would be the most likely explanation, yes.”  

Aizawa whirls towards Ryuzaki.. Along with all the other officers turn. Apparently, this was the first they’d heard this explanation from Ryuzaki.

“So it’s not a criminal?” Matsuda says, blinking. Light rolls his eyes. Duh. 

Aizawa folds his arms, “If it’s a disease, why isn’t the CDC doing anything about it?”

“Maybe they are,” Ukita says, “Can we get in contact with them, Ryuzaki?” 

Watari shakes his head, answering for the young man. “We have been trying to get in contact with someone since this all began. No one is answering.”

“Even with all of Ryuzaki’s contacts?” Soichiro frowns. 

Light blinks. He has contacts? How powerful was this guy? He seems like your normal shut-in kinda guy. Ryuzaki simply shakes his head to Soichiro, before biting onto his thumb. The officers seemed to get more tense, going completely silent. They probably had friends and family they were worried about and they had no idea of knowing if they were okay unless they left this place. Which probably wasn’t the best idea. Light clicks his tongue. So they were safe, which Light was grateful for, but these guys had no idea what they were going to do next. 

The sound of a grumbling breaks the silence in the room. Everyone perks up, then glance over over at the one who made the noise: Sayu. She was blushing faintly holding her stomach. Sayu quietly mumbles an apology then sinks back into her seat. Light lets out a small chuckle. Of course she was hungry.. To be honest, so was he. They hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. 

“Perhaps, we should all take a break and get some dinner especially since our two survivors have most likely not eaten anything.” Watari smiles. 

Light nods his head and Watari goes to get some food for everyone. Matsuda and Mogi go with him to help. Soichiro goes over to Sayu to talk to her and the rest of the officers simply speak with each other. When everyone else was busy, Ryuzaki comes over to Light and sits next to him getting in that weird position again. 

“..Why do you sit like that?” Light questions, “Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

“I’m used to it. Plus, if I don’t sit like this then my deduction skills would drop by forty percent.” He says, as if it’s the most simple thing in the world. 

“Right..So, did you need something, Mr. Ryuzaki?”

“Please just call me Ryuzaki,” He says rubbing his lip with his thumb, “But yes, I do need something.” 

“What is it?”

“I want you to tell me what it’s like this out there. I haven’t left this building since it all began, and my vision is limited because the cameras can only show so much.” 

What it’s like out there? Light turns toward him. Why does he need that kind of information? 

“Are you planning to leave this building?” Light asks, “Why? It’s safe here. Those.. Those monsters, they can’t get through the doors and if they try, we can see them in the cameras.”

“I don’t believe I’m inclined to tell you, Light-kun.” Ryuzaki murmurs.  _ What the hell!? _

Light narrows his eyes, “If you want to know what it’s like out there, then yes you are.” 

Ryuzaki stares at him, going silent. He was watching him, as if he was debating whether or not he was worth an explanation. Light could feel himself tensing, but he keeps his eyes trained on Ryuzaki in a glare. He didn’t want to lose.. Whatever this was. If he wants to know what it’s like, then Light needs an explanation. That much was clear. The two keep their eyes on each other for a good while. It didn’t appear that either of them were planning to look away. Only when Watari comes in to let everyone know that dinner was ready did they stop. Everyone follows him to a room where they had practically set up a feast. Sayu’s mouth starts to drool. Light couldn’t believe his eyes. There was still this much food?! Two weeks ago before the military fell, they were starting rations! 

Sayu and the rest of the officers begin to eat as if there was nothing wrong with that amount of food. Ryuzaki pulls out a seat for himself before sitting in it, seemingly waiting for something. Watari walks over to a mini fridge, taking out a plate of strawberry cake before bringing back the slice for Ryuzaki. Light raises an eyebrow. Cake for dinner? There’s man-eating dead people outside, and he’s having cake for dinner?

“Is something wrong, Yagami-kun?” Watari says, “Is the food not to your liking?” 

“..It’s...fine.” He huffs, sitting down taking some of the food. Might as well eat well now, since it appears that Ryuzaki is planning to leave this place soon. Who knows how many supplies he’ll be taking with them. So, Light takes the time to eat as much food as he could until dinner was over. After that, Watari offers Light and Sayu showers which they both gratefully accepted. Light is a germaphobe, he could only be covered in dirt and dry blood for so long. They both take their showers. By then, the sun had long set. Soichiro and Light take Sayu to a different room and put her to bed. Once she was asleep, Soichiro turns to Light, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You try and get some sleep too, son.” He smiles, “After today, you need it.” 

Light nods, “Okay.” He wasn’t going to be able to sleep.

That’s exactly what happens. When everyone, at least Light thought it was everyone, had gone to bed including his father. Light remains awake, staring up at the ceiling of his room. After all, he is lost in his thoughts. He tries every trick in the book to get to sleep, but it wasn’t happening. Eventually, Light gives up. It probably hadn’t been the best idea to let his mind wander before bed. He gets up and leaves his room, walking around the building for a bit. Light considers going down to the first floor to see if the biters were still there, but he decides against it. The last thing he needs is to freak himself out. So, he heads to the monitor room. When he gets to the door, he could hear two soft voices. Light lays his ear against the door, trying to listen in.  

“Did you try again after dinner?” One of them says.

“I did,” The other responds, “They still haven’t responded. I don’t think we’re even getting to them.”

It’s Ryuzaki and Watari. Light realizes, curiously keeping his ear to the door. How come they’re still up? Light pauses.. He was still awake too, so he supposes he can’t blame them for being up. Who are they trying to get too though? Was it more officials? Why would he keep trying? He told them earlier that he couldn’t get a hold of anyone? Watari starts to move, Light can hear, getting ready to make a dash but he didn’t seem to get closer to the door. They are silent for a moment, before Watari speaks again.

“Did you ask Yagami-kun what it was like outside?”

“I did, but he didn’t tell me.” Ryuzaki lets out a huff. Light could hear the pout in his voice.

“Did you ask nicely?” Watari asks. The other man doesn’t respond and Light can feel himself smirking. No, he didn’t. Light supplies helpfully in his head. Watari continues talking, despite Ryuzaki’s lack of response. Light could hear the exasperation in his voice. 

“Try again tomorrow anyway. Much nicer this time and don’t demand information from him. I..I am worried about the four of them.” 

“I am too, Wammy. If they don’t respond though, no matter what Light-kun tells me tomorrow, I’m going to go after them.They’re like family to me.” 

_ Wammy?  _ Light raises an eyebrow. Who’s Wammy?  

“There’s nothing I can do to change your decision?” Watari says softly.

“No.”

There’s more shuffling in the room before Watari sighs, “I understand.” 

Light stares at the door for a bit longer before turning around and heading back to his room. That was enough. Now, he felt slightly guilty for not telling Ryuzaki earlier. It was obvious he was worried about his family. Of course that was natural though. Light walks back to his room, sitting back down on his bed. Still.. If he leaves, what about the supplies? He lays down on his bed sighing. Ryuzaki might be right in wanting to leave; if not for his family, then because it’s a stupid idea to stay in one location for too long. Light and Sayu had learned that the hard way. This wasn’t a safe haven. Those doors are made of glass, any force too rough and they’ll shatter. Plus, the place is surrounded by the biters. What happens when they run out of food? No way staying was a good idea.. But he also couldn’t let Sayu go back into that. Light groans in annoyance, his head was beginning to ache. He’ll think of something in the morning. For now, he’ll try getting back to sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so exhausted. It's 6 AM over here. lol. But, enjoy the chapter guys. (L finally shows up! Woooo!)
> 
> Leave a comment. It makes an author's day. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Ryuzaki sits at his desk, typing as everyone wakes up and begin to enter the room one by one. Light is the fourth one in, after Soichiro, Aizawa, and Mogi. Watari and the rest of the group appear to be still asleep. The teenage boy sits on the couch, taking some of the bread brought in by Mogi. He nibbles on it for the taste before taking a solid bite out of it. Ryuzaki rolls his chair over to him. Time to try this again. 

“Light-kun?” 

“Mmf!” He swallows down the bread too quickly and ends up having to hit his chest roughly. 

Ryuzaki tilts his head, “Do you need any water?”

Light only responds with a glare, before trying to straighten himself out. “No, I’m fine. What do you want?” The boy’s voice is strained.

So prideful.. Ryuzaki thinks. He moves back to his desk, grabbing a water bottle before coming back holding out the bottle for him. Light scrutinizes the bottle, debating something before huffing and grabbing the bottle out of his hand. 

“Hmph.”  

“You’re welcome,” Ryuzaki hums, “So Light-kun.. If you could, I would like you to tell me what it’s like outside.” 

“Sure..” Light says, taking a drink out of the bottle.

“And if you still need me to tell you why then - Wait, really?” Ryuzaki blinks. This was a surprise. He didn’t think Light would have changed his mind. 

“Yes, really..” 

There’s a small pause as Ryuzaki figures out if he’s being serious or not before inching closer to the boy.. Light stares at the bottle in thought. Then, he turns to Ryuzaki. 

“It’s pretty bad. The streets are crowded with those..monsters, I call them biters, Sayu and I only were able to get here because we went through the alleys. Even then, we came up with some trouble. As you know.. We nearly died trying to get in here. But, I think.. If you were properly armed and if you were careful.. You’d be able to get out of here safely.” 

“I see.. Thank you.” Ryuzaki rests against his chair, biting the nail on his thumb. Watari and he were indeed armed. If the streets were crowded, they could use the alleyways like Light and his sister had. The only issue is how far they can get doing that..Eventually, they would have to use the streets. 

“Are you going to leave?” Light asks suddenly, knocking Ryuzaki out of his thoughts. He blinks at the boy who was currently avoiding his gaze, gripping the water bottle tightly. Could he be..? 

“Are you scared, Light-kun?”

Light’s cheeks color a rosy pink as he quickly whirls his head to glare at him, “I did not  _ say _ that!” Ryuzaki opens his mouth to respond but the furious teenager beats him to it.

“I’m not scared, it’s just that.. If you leave, you might take some necessary supplies that we need to survive! What will Sayu, my father, and I do then?” He glares at him even more, clenching his fists.

“It’s true that.. I plan to leave with Watari, but if you wish we can leave you and your family enough supplies to survive. We will take what we need and leave you with what you need.” L blinks.

Light’s glare weakens, taking in what he just heard. He turns to Ryuzaki, “Really?” The detective only nods in response.

“But Light-kun, a piece of advice,” Ryuzaki says, “When we do leave, it’s probably best that you-”

“Don’t stay here for long either,” Light finishes for him, “I know, I’ve learned first hand that that staying in one place for too long is dangerous.” 

Ryuzaki watches him. First hand, huh? Probably his mother.. They told their father earlier that they had lost their mother. Ryuzaki has no time to say anything else, before the door opens and in comes everyone else. Watari looks at Ryuzaki expectantly as he enters, but Ryuzaki shakes his head. The older man only takes on a look of sadness before going to stand next to Ryuzaki.

“Everyone,” Watari exhales, “We wish to tell you something.” The officers take on serious faces, catching on to the old man’s urgency.

“What is it, Watari?” Matsuda blinks, being the one to not catch on as he grabs a loaf of bread from the table. Aizawa groans, pulling the young officer to him. 

“Ryuzaki and I will be leaving.” 

As Ryuzaki expected, they all begin to argue back towards the young detective and his mentor. 

“But, Ryuzaki..! It’s dangerous to go!” Soichiro says. 

“Yeah! You can’t just ditch us here, we were supposed to solve this together!” Ide growls, “After all the trouble you put us through about your identity too.” 

“Where are you going to go anyway?” Mogi says next.

Aizawa clenches his teeth, “What about us?! Where do we go?!” 

Light watches the adults in all their rage, then moves to sit next to Sayu. She’s silent, not uttering a word but it was obvious she didn’t agree with Ryuzaki as well. But, she makes no move to say anything. She fears the same thing Light did. Watari turns to Ryuzaki who grumbles. 

“To answer all of you one by one. Yagami-san, I’m very aware that it’s dangerous. Your son has let me know what I have to do to ensure my safety. Ide-san, there is no case here anymore. This is not a criminal we can catch. Mogi-san, I plan to go to my..family. I suggest you all do the same. Though, you don’t have too. You can choose to stay here. I’ve spoken to Light-kun about it, Watari and I will take what we need and we will leave you with what you need as well. So, don’t worry. Any more questions?” 

There are no more. Everyone keeps quiet. Either out of anger, shock, or they were accepting the decision. Ryuzaki glances around at everyone before standing up, “Good. Then, whoever wants too should follow me. I will take you to where we’re keeping our supplies.” He walks over to the door before turning to see who would be following him. Soichiro, Matsuda, and Light. Figures. 

“I hope the rest of you can forgive us for this decision..” Watari sighs, following Ryuzaki. 

Ryuzaki leaves the room, seeing Light take Sayu’s hand before running after him. The six of them go into the indoor parking lot of the building. The lot is empty except for five cars. The cars of the ones who were still upstairs. 

Matsuda asks, “You’ve got the supplies in the back of your car?” 

“Correct.” Ryuzaki replies, as they walk over to a large black Jeep. Watari trots over to the trunk, opening it up. Light couldn’t believe his eyes. There were all kinds of guns from rifles, pistols, to even military guns. So much ammo too. There were even grenades and rocket launchers!

Soichiro stares in astonishment, “You.. brought all of this with you to Japan? Why?”

Ryuzaki hums, “We didn’t know what kind of people you were. Had to be prepared.” 

“You’re just two people!” Soichiro raises an eyebrow, “This is too much!”

“You can never be too careful.” Watari says. He takes out a bag, filling it with some of the weapons. 

Sayu grins, “Do I get one too?”

“Of course not!” Soichiro glares sternly at his daughter. 

“Dad, she needs to protect herself somehow..” Light raises an eyebrow.

“Neither of you have shot a gun before!” 

Sayu pouts, “Light has! Back at the house! He’s even still got the gun on him.” 

Everyone turns to Light immediately. He blinks, taking out the gun. It had had two shots fired out of it. Soichiro sighs. He’d hoped his son wouldn’t have had to fire a gun until after he became an officer.The bag in Watari’s hand is nearly filled with guns when they hear the shattering of glass. Light immediately gets in front of Sayu, holding the gun tightly spinning around to face the entrance to the parking lot.

“Light, what was that?” Soichiro says worriedly, pulling out his own gun.

Light doesn’t respond, keeping an eye on the entrance. Matsuda follows Soichiro’s lead taking out his gun. They begin to shift closer to the entrance so they could look closer.

“No, don’t!” Light shouts, but it was too late. One of the biters runs into Matsuda, making the young officer shriek dropping his gun. It throws himself at him, clawing at him. He starts to wrestle it, trying to get it off him. Soichiro pales, starting to shoot at it firing bullets into its torso. Watari is standing in front of Ryuzaki, pulling out one of the guns ready to shoot. 

“No, Dad! That’s not how you kill it!” Sayu shouts, holding onto Light.

Matsuda is screaming, trying to keep it away from him slamming it into the wall, backing off before slipping beginning to crawl away. The biter starts to run after him before a bullet flies past it barely brazing its cheek.

“Damn it, I missed!” Light growls, holding the gun. Soichiro gives up on shooting, and tries to drag the monster away from Matsuda. It starts to claw at him. 

“Why won’t it die?” Ryuzaki ponders out loud, as Matsuda gets to his gun and shoots into the thing’s leg. 

Light breathes heavily trying to aim again, “You have to hit it on the head!” He shouts to Matsuda. The officer doesn’t hear him.

The biter manages to get an upper hand on Soichiro pushing him down onto the ground opening its mouth to take a bite. Soichiro screams in horror, fighting to keep it away from his flesh. Light pales. He didn’t have good enough aim to not accidentally hit his father from here and Matsuda is still shooting everywhere  _ but the head _ . 

“Dad!” Sayu screeches out, running out from behind Light. 

“Sayu, no!” Light shouts before suddenly he feels the gun ripping out of his hand.

“Miss Yagami, duck!” Ryuzaki commands.

She obeys throwing herself to the ground before Ryuzaki fires the gun, the bullet piercing the biter directly in the head. It falls onto his father motionless. Soichiro is panting, holding the biter before heaving it off him. Sayu stands up again running to Soichiro pulling him into a hug quickly. He hugs her back before looking at Ryuzaki. 

“Thank you so much. You saved my life.” 

Ryuzaki doesn’t respond, turning to give Light his gun back. That’s when Matsuda screams.

“There’s more! They’re coming!” 

They all turn to the entrance to see a horde of them running at them. Light feels his blood drain.

“Everyone get in the car!” Watari shouts, throwing the bag of guns into the trunk again and closing it. Matsuda was shooting again. This time he got them in the heads, but it was no use. There were too many of them. Soichiro lifts up Sayu into his arms and starts sprinting towards the car. Light watches as Matsuda’s shooting them. God, there were so many. They keep coming. The _damn_ _noise_ is attracting them! He suddenly feels an arm grab him and tug him into the car. Ryuzaki. Soichiro jumps into the front with Watari, holding Sayu against him. Ryuzaki and Light were in the back. 

“Matsuda, come on!” Sayu calls. The officer turns around to face them before running into the car hopping in beside Ryuzaki. They hurl the doors close. The biters race up to the windows, Light crawls over to his window, smashing the button to lock it. One of the biter’s hands gets caught in the window. Watari hits the acceleration so fast, that the hand rips from the arm, allowing the window to fully shut. The hand falls into the car with them right beside Light.. He yelps, jerking away from it bumping roughly into Ryuzaki. 

Watari drives the Jeep out of the parking lot, crashing into and crushing any of the biters that run in front of them. They drive into the street, getting the attention of every one of the biters in the street. Ryuzaki looks out at the sheer number of them.

“Perhaps you should’ve been more descriptive when you described the outside to me, Light-kun. ‘It’s pretty bad.’ is a huge understatement.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aandd they're out. :D You didn't really think I'd make L leave without Light, didya? Haha. Thanks for reading~
> 
> Leave a comment~ It makes an author's day. :)


	5. Chapter 5

They drive past Headquarters, staring at the building as the hordes of the undead swarm it. Sayu shuffles next to Soichiro.

She whispers, “What about Aizawa and the other officers? We left them there..” 

No one responds to her. It’s true they had abandoned them there, but there was no way for them to have gotten through to them. They could only pray that the others would forgive them. Sayu watches everyone before sighing, gazing out the window. As the drive continues, the amount of undead starts decreasing in great amounts. They were no longer crashing into them, and Watari was able to get onto the highway to leave the city. During the drive out, Matsuda continues squirming as Ryuzaki is squished against him tightly.

“Um..Ryuzaki.. You’re squishing me. Could you please, y’know..?” Matsuda mumbles. The other man just turns to him.

“My apologies, Matsuda. I would, but Light-kun is actually the one squeezing us together.” Matsuda blinks, glancing over at Light. It was true. The boy is pressing himself against Ryuzaki. A slight blush gracing his cheeks. He glares out the window, obviously he could hear what they are saying but refuses to say anything. 

“..What’s wrong, Light?” Matsuda asks, peeking out at Light from behind Ryuzaki.

“..The hand.” Light mutters. 

The two of them turn their head, looking at the object that was perched where Light should be sitting. The hand that was ripped off of the monster when they were driving out of the parking lot. Ryuzaki turns his head to Light, the boy makes no move to back away. At least not until the hand was removed. He reaches over and grabs one of the hand’s fingers, lifting it up to him. Light immediately pulls back, wrinkling his nose at the hand. Gross. 

“..Doesn’t that bother you, Ryuzaki?” Matsuda blinks.

“Not really,” He says, “It’s just a hand.” 

“A dismembered hand.” Light corrects.

Ryuzaki turns to him, “When a body decomposes, it’s natural for limbs to detach from the main body. This is nothing to be grossed out about.”

“Just throw it away!” Light whines.

With that, Ryuzaki opens the window and tosses the limb out into the street. Light sighs, then scoots to the side giving the two of them room. Matsuda stretches out his arms in relief and sits straight up in his seat while Ryuzaki stays in the same position he was before keeping his knees against his chest. 

“So.. Where are we going?” Light says. 

They were definitely leaving the city, but where’s their next destination? Light glances over at Ryuzaki and Watari. The two of them had been planning to leave them behind when they had the chance, but they couldn’t anymore. Well.. They could but.. Light frowns. He hopes that isn’t the case.. Light wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he, Sayu, and his father are definitely safer with Ryuzaki and Watari. They had proven that with Ryuzaki’s deadly accuracy earlier that saved his father’s life. 

“I would hope that we’re going to where we had originally planned.” Ryuzaki says, “We are going there right, Watari?” He raises an eyebrow at the older man who smiles at Ryuzaki through the rear-view mirror. Ryuzaki takes that as a yes. 

The Yagami’s and Matsuda are silent. Were they going to be dropped off and left for dead before or after they get to their destination? Light glances at Matsuda, their father probably couldn’t stomach leaving Matsuda behind if they do get left for dead. This man was one of his father’s most loyal officers. Light didn’t mind him.. But, he hopes he won’t have to look after the man. Sayu is his first priority. It’s probably the same for his father.

As for in the situation of actually being abandoned, Light would hope that Ryuzaki would keep his word and offer Light the weaponry they need to survive. He’d prefer if he  _ didn’t _ have to separate from the man at all, but if it comes to it then he wants to be prepared. Light could learn how to aim and shoot properly from his father. Sayu too, if their father would let her. Where would they go though? Depending on where they were dropped off.. It’s best if they stayed out of cities. They’ll could pass by a few towns where they could collect supplies-

“Light-kun, you look like you’re thinking hard,” Ryuzaki says, “What’s going through your mind?” 

Light turns to him, “I’m just.. Trying to figure out what to do next.” 

“I believe we’ve already said what we’re going to do next? The idea is to go where Watari and I had planned to go.” 

“Yeah, but what about us?” Light huffs. 

“What do you mean?” Ryuzaki tilts his head, confusion in the detective’s eyes. 

Light raises an eyebrow, “You know exactly what I mean. What do the other four of us do? I’m not sure if you plan to drop us off when we get there or earlier. When you do, I don’t want to be taken by surprise.” 

The detective blinks for a moment, then turns to look at Soichiro and Sayu. They had been watching Ryuzaki as well. 

“You know, Light-kun.. You seem to have a bad habit of assuming the worst in people. Were you aware of that?” Ryuzaki hums. Light folds his arms.

“You have to be ready for anything.” 

“So, you are aware of your bad habit then.” 

Light glares at the detective, then looks away out the window. He could hear the detective let out a low chuckle. It’s not a bad habit. It’s called being careful.

“If your family and Matsuda wish to stay with us, then you can.” Ryuzaki says. Light pauses then turns back to Ryuzaki. A smile was playing on his lips. “We won’t abandon you.”

Matsuda starts to laugh in relief and Sayu let out a cheer. Even Soichiro was smiling. Light keeps staring at Ryuzaki, as if expecting him to take it back. When nothing of the sort happened, Light crosses his arms and looks out the window again. A blush on his cheeks.

“Light-kun?” Ryuzaki smiles. 

“What? You want me to thank you or something?” Light pouts. 

Ryuzaki laughs. He really was prideful. That was fine though. He could tell that the boy was grateful. Even if he wouldn’t admit it. Maybe one day he’d get the boy to properly thank him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter's a little shorter than usual. Sorry. ^-^" Thanks for reading. Also I think I'm going to hold off on updating on weekends, cause I need time to actually create chapters now that I'm catching up to where I actually am a little bit. I'll still be uploading on weekdays though.
> 
> Leave a comment. It makes an author's day. :D


	6. Chapter 6

A few hours pass and they are still driving. The sun had long gone down. City roads become long interstate roads. Abandoned farms are the only sight for miles. It doesn’t take long for everyone to get bored of the view so they did the next thing they could do. Sleep. Sayu uses her father as a pillow, the man himself also asleep, and Matsuda’s far gone with his head laying against the window and a trail of drool sliding down his chin. Light’s eyes are drooping as well and he’s fighting to stay awake. Eventually, he cannot fight it anymore and sleep overtakes him. Ryuzaki glances over in time to see him fall asleep, then returns back to watching straight ahead.

“L..” Watari says in a hushed tone, “We’re running low on gas.” 

“How much longer can we go?” 

“Maybe for two more miles, then we need to refill the vehicle.” 

Ryuzaki nods, opening a small compartment by the door and pulling out a map. They’re about fifty miles from the next city. Twenty five from their destination. There’s a gas station three miles from where they were now. If they drive for the remaining two miles, then the two of them could walk to the gas station and be back in roughly twenty minutes depending on how fast they walk. While they’re there, they could also grab some snacks for the group. If the station isn’t already ransacked.. 

“Keep going as long as you can. There will be a gas station in three miles and we’ll just walk to it when the car stops.” Ryuzaki replies. 

“Is it alright to leave the four of them in here?” 

“We’ll probably be back before they wake up anyway. Light-kun just went to sleep and judging by how sleepy he looked, he won’t be awake for awhile.” 

Watari bobs his head in approval, driving out for the two miles as he’s instructed. When the car comes to a halt,  Ryuzaki and him climb out of the car without waking the rest of their group. What could go wrong in the twenty minutes they are gone?

Apparently, a lot. Light is shook awake by Sayu violently. To his dismay, she was saying something at him that he couldn’t decipher in his sleepiness. 

“What do you want?” He whines, “I’m tired. Tell me later.”

Speaking of which, he’s getting really stuffy in this car. He reaches over, searching for the button to open the window. Once he finds it, he presses down on it. Light doesn’t hear the sound of the window opening though. The drowsiness starts to fade, confusion taking its place. Sayu shouts at him. This time, Light makes out the word ‘Biter’ from her high-pitched screeching. Light’s eyes fling open to see that their car’s completely surrounded by biters. Soichiro and Matsuda are awake and are putting all their strength in keeping the doors to the car shut against the biters pulls. Light’s head is spinning as he counts how many biters there are. Eight.. Nine.. Maybe ten. 

“W..What’s going on?” Light’s voice trembles as his eyes dart from each window. 

Sayu takes hold of a door and starts tugging to keep it closed. Light hurriedly does the same with the door beside him. The two biters in front of Light’s window scratch and open their mouths as if to bite him through the glass. He gulps down at the sight of blood and torn flesh between the biter’s teeth. 

“Can someone please just  _ drive _ ?” Light cries out.

“We can’t,” Matsuda yells, “We don’t have the keys!”

What? Why?! Light turns to see that the keys really are gone. He freezes, before coming to a realization. The keys aren’t the only thing missing.

“Where are Ryuzaki and Watari?!” Light shouts, his panic getting much worse. Why are they gone?!

Soichiro answers, “They weren’t here when I was woken up by the biters.”

Light’s eyes narrow. Where did they go and why did they take the keys with them? Did they abandon them? Why leave them the car with all the weaponry then? Light suddenly feels a tug on his arms, quickly bringing his attention to one of the biters that’s managing to yank the door enough to stick its head through. The other biter shoves an arm through the crack and stretches out its hand. Light releases the door and backing up against Sayu, his eyes wide. The biter opens the door and starts to climb inside. Sayu groans in pain as Light collides with her. She whips around to see what his problem is, seeing the two biters crawling into the car. 

“Fuck, oh - Light, where’s your gun?!” Sayu says, but Light doesn’t respond. He’s kicking at the biters and crying out in fear, not hearing a single thing Sayu had said. She bites down on her lip, pushing against her own door. Light’s choking. He’s too panicked right now to hear her. Sayu glances at her father and Matsuda, who were still pushing down on their doors. Soichiro turns his head noticing the biters entering through Light’s door. He pales.

“Oh god, you two! Move out of the way!” Soichiro stands up in the car, letting some pressure off his door. The biters take advantage of that and start to push open the door.

“Chief, you can’t do that!” Matsuda shouts. 

“But, my children..!” Soichiro sits back, holding the door again. 

Sayu notices Light’s gun, sticking out of the side of his pants. She quickly snatches it off her brother, moving him out of the way quickly and pressing the barrel of the gun to its head and pressing down on the trigger. This snaps Light out of his panic induced state. As he’s about to take the gun from Sayu, she fires one more time and hits the second biter climbing in. The other biters from around the car start to swarm around the door. Matsuda and Soichiro take this chance and abandon their doors, clambering over to the back of the car and shooting at the ones entering the car. 

Light takes the gun from Sayu, shooting at them as well. When the last one’s down, everyone finally relaxes. Light moves away from Sayu, closing his door. Sayu slumps against her seat, letting out a heavy breath. 

“Thank God, it’s over..” Matsuda mumbles. Soichiro nods, then pinches the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes. Light bites his lip, turning over to Sayu.

“Sorry.. I don’t know what happened. I just froze..” 

“It’s alright,” Sayu gives him a smile, “I get it.. “ 

As if on cue, Ryuzaki and Watari approach the car. Frowns on their faces. Soichiro spots them, opening his door and exiting the car.

“Is everything alright? We heard gunshots.” Watari shouts, running over.

Light growls. Does it seem like everything’s alright? Ryuzaki gazes down at the lifeless bodies of the biters, expressionless. Light scowls at him through the glass before leaving the car. 

“Yes,” Soichiro sighs, “Everything’s alright now. We were attacked while you wer-”

Suddenly, Light grabs Ryuzaki by his shirt and slams him against the car door. Ryuzaki yelps and Light could hear the sound of something plopping on the ground. He couldn’t bring himself to care though. 

_ “What the hell were you thinking?!” _ Light snarls. 

“Light!” Soichiro puts a hand on his shoulder, but Light shakes it off. 

“Why would you just leave us like that?!” Light shoves Ryuzaki against the door even harder. “You said you weren’t going to abandon us and then you just up and left when all of us were down! What the hell is up with that?!” 

Ryuzaki blinks, “I understand why you’re angry, Light-kun but..”

“But? But what? What could possibly excuse you nearly getting all four of us killed?!” 

“The car ran out of gas.. We went to go get some.” He responds calmly.

Light pauses, loosening his grip on his shirt before noticing plastic bags by Ryuzaki’s feet. They were filled with snacks and drinks. Enough for the whole group. Light looks over at Watari who’s holding two gasoline tanks. He presses his lips together. Ryuzaki’s staring at him, unmoving waiting for some sort of prompt. Watari has a frown on his face, along with Soichiro. Sayu and Matsuda were peering out from the car windows, having watched that whole thing go down. Great. Now, he seemed like a jackass. He had reason to be angry though! They just left without saying anything! Light tries his best not to pout and turns his attention back to Ryuzaki. 

“You’re still a jerk for leaving without at least telling someone.” He huffs.

“Yes,” Ryuzaki says, “My apologies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment~ They make an author's day. :D


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Watari refilled the car, Soichiro offered to drive the car and let Watari get some sleep. The elderly man tried to argue, but Ryuzaki accepted for him. He gave Soichiro some directions on where to go, before settling into his seat next to Light. Watari sat in the passenger seat, giving into Ryuzaki and Soichiro and got some sleep. Despite recent events, everyone was in a much happier mood than earlier. They were sharing the snacks that Ryuzaki had brought and talking about anything that crossed their minds. Except for Light, of course. 

Ryuzaki looks over at Light, who was sulking. He’s still angry, huh? Well… Ryuzaki couldn’t deny that the young man had a reason to be angry. Light’s right on the fact that Ryuzaki had made a dumb decision leaving without telling anyone but how long could he be mad at him for? From what Ryuzaki’s seen so far, awhile. A long while. He needs to start some sort of conversation with him though. What would he talk about? Ryuzaki’s social skills are mediocre at best. Hundreds of topics swarm his mind, none seeming quite appropriate. How Light felt about the world ending, what happened to his mother, what it felt like to nearly be eaten alive. Twice. 

Ryuzaki bites his thumb, “..Were you aware that you talk in your sleep, Light-kun?” 

_ “What?” _ Light snaps. Bad topic. Abort conversation. Delete. 

The detective shuffles away, trying to ignore the stares of the young man. He shouldn’t have said anything. Why does he even bother to try? There’s a reason why he shuts himself away from the world - 

“What do I say?” Light asks. Ryuzaki pauses, turning his head to face the boy. He still appears to be sulking but is willing to make conversation. 

“Nothing important,” Ryuzaki says, “You were commenting on eating chips at one point.”

Light blinks in surprise, “Oh.” 

“Any idea what you were dreaming about?” 

“No, it’s all a blur. Considering I was woken up so abruptly from it.” Light huffs. 

“I see,” Ryuzaki bites his thumb, “Are you hungry?” 

Light blinks, “Yeah, I guess. A little bit. Why?” 

The detective reaches into the plastic bags, pulling out a bag of potato chips and passing it to Light. He smiles at him. Light nods, staring at the bag before sighing. Might as well.. He pops the bag open and pulls out a chip, nibbling on the salty snack before taking a bigger bite. It felt like heaven in his mouth. They really hadn’t eaten since they left HQ. Light begins eating faster and faster, his hunger getting the better of him. 

“You look like a biter snacking on a human.” Ryuzaki hums.

“Shut up,” Light mumbles keeping his mouth covered with his hand, “Too soon.” 

Ryuzaki shrugs. When will it be not too soon? He reaches into the grocery bag, taking out  some cookies and tearing open the package. How long will it take? Will it ever be? Ryuzaki shakes the thoughts out of his head, biting down on a cookie. For now, he just had to get to them first. Then, he can handle everything else. A few hours later, Soichiro stops the car. Light gazes out of the window. They were at the top of a hill, not a single tree in sight. Just a gigantic grassy field. Soichiro looks at Ryuzaki through the rear-view mirror.

“Is this the place, Ryuzaki?” 

Ryuzaki nods, and the group begins to exit the car. Matsuda shakes Watari awake before leaving as well. Sayu runs up to the hill, peering down and gaping at the sight.

“It’s beautiful!” She grins. Light smiles at her excitement, walking up to her and staring down. It really is wonderful. Matsuda and Soichiro stand by them, enjoying the landscape before Ryuzaki passes by them, heading down the hill. Light blinks, following after him. As they get further down the hill, a church comes into view.

“Why are we at a church, Ryuzaki?” Light asks, catching up to Ryuzaki.

“I brought some family with me to Japan, this is where I told them to wait till I finished the case.” He answers.

“Ah,” Light frowns, “What country are you from?”

“England.” 

They walk up to the church and Ryuzaki pushes on the doors, only for 

them to rattle slightly but not open. Watari jogs up to the door. 

“Something wrong?” Watari grabs the doorknob, tugging on it.

“I think they’ve boarded it up on the other side.” Ryuzaki sighs.

“So we can’t get in?” Light raises an eyebrow. 

Sayu walks around the church, looking around seeing all the lower windows were all boarded up as well. She puts her hands on her hips. Whoever is on the other side is meticulous as hell. Sayu stares up, spotting a small window at the very top of the church. Well, not meticulous enough.. Or at least not tall enough. 

“Light, I know a way in!” Sayu calls. Light turns his head in her direction, before running up to her along with the rest of the group. She points up to the window. 

“How do we get up there?” Matsuda tilts his head.

“And none of us would fit..” Soichiro frowns.

Sayu grins, “I can fit! Just lift me up and I’ll go inside.” 

Light and Soichiro whip around to face her, “ _ No _ !” 

Sayu retreats behind Matsuda. “But.. Ryuzaki said-”

“There could be biters inside!” Light folds his arms, glaring at her. Sayu puffs out her cheeks, looking away. 

Ryuzaki stares up, “My family is in there. If there’s biters inside, my family has killed them.”

Light begins, “Or your family is dead-”

“Light!” Soichiro interrupts, a stern look on his face. The young man huffs, turning away. Ryuzaki’s eyes had narrowed dangerously. Light bites his lip. Even if Light’s comment was uncalled for, he wasn’t going to endanger his sister for someone else’s siblings. 

“Come on,” Sayu whines, “Let me do it!”

“I said no-” Before Light could finish his sentence, Ryuzaki tugs on his shirt.

“Please, let her. I want to know if my family is dead or not.” He mumbles.

Light stops, before glancing away. He meets his father’s gaze. Immediately recognized the look on it. Soichiro wanted to help Ryuzaki.. Since if it was Light or Sayu in there, he’d want confirmation as well. Light clenches his fists before huffing.

“Fine, someone lift her.”

Ryuzaki smiles, “Thank you, Light.. I won’t let her get hurt. You have my word.” 

With that, Ryuzaki puts togethers his hands and lowers them for Sayu to step on. She does so, getting raised into the air. Ryuzaki brings her as high as he possibly can before Sayu’s finally able to grab hold of the window. She tugs at it and it unhinges from its spot slightly. Victory! It’s not locked. Sayu smiles and opens it further up, before peeking inside. The church’s pretty small from her angle. There’s an altar with a statue of Jesus Christ crucified behind it, along with vertically set up chairs going down the center of it. The windows were stained glass, but it’s hard to tell as they had also been boarded up too. In a few of the seats, there were the lifeless bodies of biters. Sayu leans further in, but from her distance she could not tell how they were killed. 

“Is there anyone inside, Miss Yagami?” Ryuzaki says, holding her up.

“Just.. I think three lifeless bodies.” Sayu responds. 

Sayu feels Ryuzaki still and knew immediately that she’d said the wrong thing. Watari makes a noise in the back of his throat, suspiciously sounding like a cry. Light glances at both of them before frowning, putting a hand on Ryuzaki’s shoulder.

“It’s alright,” Light whispers, “I know it’s hard, but-” 

Ryuzaki shakes Light’s hand off his shoulder. “Can you tell if the bodies are those of children?” 

Sayu leans in further, practically climbing in through the window now. Ryuzaki had to let go of her, so she could get in. Now that she’s further in, she can see the bodies more clearly. Two elderly people; a man and woman. One other adult man.

“Definitely not!” 

Ryuzaki smiles, relaxing a little. The bodies weren’t them.. Then, there’s still a chance they’re alive. Just.. where would they have gone if not here? They have to be nearby.. He sighs, before reaching up to grab onto Sayu again. Ryuzaki is about to pull her down before she slips out of his grasp. A scream escapes her as she’s suddenly pulled in through the window. Light pales.

“Sayu!” Light gasps, immediately following Soichiro as he runs back to the front. The rest of the group dashes after them, they’re already banging on the church door and slamming into it by the time they get there. 

“Sayu,” Soichiro shouts, “Are you okay?! Say something, sweetheart!” 

Light hits his fists against the door, “Sayu, answer us!” 

Neither of them get a response. Light latches onto the door handle, tugging on it roughly. Ryuzaki watches him before sighing, grabbing Light’s hand and pulling it away.

“She’s fine. The drop wasn’t high enough for her to get hurt.”

Light pauses, then turns to glare at Ryuzaki. “She’s locked in there by herself!” 

“I don’t think so,” Ryuzaki says calmly, “She was pulled in, something had to have grabbed her.” 

“That’s even worse, it could be a biter!” Light cries out.

“She would’ve told us if there were biters inside.” 

Light snarls, ripping his hand away from Ryuzaki’s grasp. He hated the monotone way he was speaking to him. Just moments ago, he looked like he was about to break at the thought of losing his family but now that Sayu is the one in danger and not them, he doesn’t give a flying fuck. 

“You told me you would keep her safe!” Light growls.

“She climbed out of my grasp,” Ryuzaki mutters, “You’re being unreasonable, Light-kun.” Light’s a second away from punching Ryuzaki’s teeth out, but the detective walks up to the door and knocks on it.

“Miss Yagami,” He hums, “Please remove the boards on the other side of the door.”

When there’s no reply Ryuzaki tries something else, “Those of you with her.. We aren’t any harm. All we want is her back.” 

There’s a pause. A long pause. So long that Light’s positive that Ryuzaki’s second is over, so he can definitely punch him now. He really is about too, but then there’s loud shuffling on the other side of the door. Shuffling followed by a voice. 

“Who are you?” The voice says. It’s male.. Sounds young though. More than likely, a young teenager. Light glances at Ryuzaki, whose eyes glint with something for a moment. Happiness? Relief? Was..this his family? 

Ryuzaki opens his mouth but Soichiro beats him to it, “Is my daughter safe? Please, don’t hurt her!” 

The voice doesn’t say anything back, but there’s indistinguishable whispers on to the other side. Ryuzaki pats Soichiro’s shoulder, then turns to face the door.

“It’s me,” He says _ , “L.”  _

Light pauses. L? As in the world’s greatest detective? That can’t be right.. He said his name was Ryuzaki.

Watari jogs over to the door, “Wammy is here too.” That name. When Light was listening in on the two of them.. That’s the name Watari was referred to. 

“Seriously?! You guys are alive!” The voice exclaims. Two other voices start speaking as well. Their voices being drowned out by the main voice pretty quickly, but it was obvious there are two other boys in there.

Ryuzaki (L?) smiles gently, “That’s right. Now do us a favor and open this door for us. Don’t hurt that girl either.” 

On the other side of the door, there’s a lot of noise. The tearing of boards from the wall. Light glances at the detective. Ryuzaki’s..L? Why did he lie to him? Did he really need to hide his identity after the world had ended? Did he not  _ trust _ Light with something simple as his name? While Light couldn’t say he gave L a reason to trust him, he certainly didn’t give L a reason to distrust him. For some reason, this irritated him. He glares to the side, folding his arm. L catches Light in his peripheral vision, curiously staring at him. He has no chance to say anything, before the door flies open. The two boys turn their attention to the church. 

Sayu’s the first one out, running up to her father and clinging to him. Light runs over to her, checking her for wounds. She appeared to be fine. Light then turns his head to see L and Wammy rushing into the church. He gets up and follows them in. Two flashes of yellow and red fly into L. Light stares as two teenagers hug his side, large grins on their face. A bright smile on L’s. 

“Took you long enough, L!” The yellow one says. He’s the voice. 

“Yeah,” The red one nuzzles into his side, “We were beginning to think you died out there.” 

L ruffles their hairs, “Sorry, I was trapped for awhile.” 

A smaller boy with white hair walks forward. Watari smiles at him, bending down to talk to him. He’s much quieter than the other two. Light folds his arms, lying his back against the church door as he watches the interactions. Matsuda laughs awkwardly, trying to bring L and Wammy’s attention back to the rest of the group.

“So, who are these little rascals?” He asks. 

L perks up and glances over. He puts his hands on their shoulders, turning them to face the group. 

“My family. This is Mello, Matt, and Near.” 

Mello tilts his head, “So, this is the group you’ve been travelling with? They don’t look very useful.” 

“Now, now don’t be like that.” Watari sighs. 

“Who are they?” Near mutters, eyeing down the four of them. 

L smiles, ruffling Near’s hair. “The girl you dragged in earlier is Sayu. Light is her older brother and Soichiro is her father. The other officer is Matsuda.” 

Matt tilts his head, “How’d you end up with these guys?”

“It’s a long story,” L hums, “But, we’re a group now.” 

The four dive into a conversation, completely ignoring the rest of the group. Watari heads inside the church, as if looking for something. Light curiously follows him, staring at the bodies. They’d been stabbed through the head violently. Which one of those kids did that? Light thinks. He isn’t going to pick a fight with them, that’s for sure. Watari opens a door and peeks inside, before closing it and sighing getting Light’s attention once more. 

“Something wrong, Watari.. Or Wammy? Whichever you prefer.” Light says. 

“You can call me either one,” Watari says, “And, I’m worried. We left four children here, but only Near, Matt, and Mello are here.” 

Light pauses, “A child is missing?” 

“Yes, a young girl named Linda. She insisted on coming with the three of them to Japan with us.” 

The high school student nods slowly, then turns to see L still talking with the kids. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed.. Probably just excited about getting to see that they’re safe. Well, Light didn’t want to be the one to break the bad news to him but Watari didn’t seem like he was planning to be the one either. Light sighs, heading over to them. Someone has to do it.

“Hey, you three.” Light says, bringing all four of their attentions to him. He freezes a little, feeling uncomfortable under all of their piercing stares. As if they could see through him. He shuffles awkwardly a bit. 

“Um, Watari’s worried about the little girl that was supposed to be with you guys.” He mumbles. L stops, then looks around almost frantically before turning back to them.

“Where’s Linda?” He asks. 

Mello raises a hand through his hair, “We were running outta supplies here. She said she was gonna go out and get supplies.” 

“No one thought to go with her? She’s younger than all three of you!” L narrows his eyes. 

“We were boarding up the doors when she left,” Matt pouts, “She was only supposed to be gone an hour at most. Linda’s smart, she would’ve be fine.” 

“We gave her instructions on how to get back inside as well.” Near says, motioning towards the back door that had not been boarded. L groans loudly. 

“Did she go into town nearby?” The three boys nod quickly, and L turns around and starts to leave the church. Light blinks, going to follow him. “Then, we’re going to look for her.” 

“L, wait!” Light begins, only for Matsuda to interrupt him.

“Hey, Ryuzaki.. No offence, but we’ve all been out on the streets for hours upon hours.. We need a break. A place to set up camp.”

L pauses, “This is a little girl’s life here.”

Matsuda frowns, “Well, yeah.. But..” 

Soichiro walks forward, putting a hand on Matsuda’s shoulder. “What he means to say is that we’re all tired. We need to rest up. Obviously, we’ll look for the girl but we need to save our energy.” 

“ _ No, _ ” L growls, “You all can stay here if you want, but I’m going to go look for her.”

“L-” Watari sighs.

“I’m going.” 

With that, L stomps out of the church. Everyone’s silent, Light glances at the group for a moment before running after L. The detective walks angrily up to their car, throwing the door open and practically stabbing the keys into place. Light heads up to the passenger door, opening it and giving L a reassuring smile. 

“I’ll come with you.” Light suggests.

“Is your family okay with it?” L raises an eyebrow at him. Light turns his head to look at the church before hopping inside.

“They saw me leave.” He offers. 

“Light-kun-”

“Come on, just drive.” Light pouts, “You’re pissed off, so you might end up making a mistake. I’ll back you up if anything does happen.” 

L seems to think through this for a moment, then gives Light a quiet nod. He grabs a gun from a side compartment of the car and sets it by him, Light turns his gaze down to the gun in his pocket. When he looks up, L had already started the car and is driving down the street. Light grabs the map in the car, pinpointing the town on the map before muttering.

“On foot, it would have taken at least forty-five minutes to reach the town.” 

L nods, “Going from what Matt said, we can assume that Linda has been out for a little more than an hour.” 

“He also said she’s smart, she could be heading back now too,” Light says, “I’ll keep watch of the streets to see if I can spot her.” 

They’re silent for the next few minutes, they’re staring out to see if they can spot the young girl somewhere before they get into town. Light glances over at L momentarily. He didn’t get time before to ask about the whole name thing. Light supposes he can ask now, but it didn’t seem like it was exactly the right time.. When will it ever be the right time though?

“Hey, L?” He mutters. 

“What is it, Light-kun?” The detective responds, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Um.. How come you lied before? About your name being Ryuzaki?”

L pauses, thinking about his answer for a moment before speaking quietly. “I’ve hid my name all my life. It just came naturally, I suppose.” 

“So, it’s not because you don’t trust me or something?” Light frowns, watching the road as a distraction from looking at the detective. 

“You haven’t given a reason too,” L shrugs, “If you wish, I can tell you my actual name.”

“No, you don’t have too.” Light says. 

The detective nods carefully, glancing at the teenager for a second before returning his gaze to the road. They sit in silence, while L drives leaving both of them to their thoughts. L’s mostly focusing around the missing girl. Light’s around the topic of L’s true name.. He didn’t wish to force L into telling him. Actually, he’d prefer if the detective told him on his own. That didn’t mean he wasn’t curious though. He’ll just have to wait though, it appears. Light perks up as they enter the town. The town’s small, yet empty. Cars had been abandoned, the streets were messy as garbage cans had been thrown to the side probably in a rush. 

“L,” Light says, “It’s empty.” 

“I can see that, Light-kun.” L huffs.

“No, I mean. It’s  _ empty. _ ” Light bites his lip. The detective pauses, then looks around realizing the implications of Light’s words. There were no people, obviously.. But there were no biters. Not a single one. The place is almost hauntingly uninhabited. L stills. There’s  _ no one _ here.

“Linda might not be here, L..” Light whispers.

L suddenly stops the car, taking the keys out of it. “We’re going to search on foot. Grab your gun.” 

Light nods quietly, grabbing his gun and exiting the car with L. The both of them get onto the sidewalk, walking down the street. There were all sorts of stores. Grocery, clothes, etc. They all had ‘Closed’ signs on them, yet the doors were wide open and the glasses shattered. Someone - or something broke into them. Light glances at L, who’s peeking into an alleyway checking it, then continuing on his way. 

“They said she went to get supplies right? She might be inside a grocery store.” Light says. L bobs his head quietly, walking up to a store before Light grabs his arm making him turn. 

Light smiles, “You check this one, alright? I’ll check the one down the street.”

“Are you sure?” L stares at the teenager with uncertainty. 

“Yeah, I mean. We’ll be able to check the stores faster like this.” 

Even though L isn’t sure about this, he didn’t argue back. Only gave Light another brief nod, then entering the store. Light, himself crosses the street into the second one. It’s a convenience store. The majority of the place had already been raided. Snack aisles, along with drinks were almost entirely gone, except for just a few bags. The hot dog and meats station’s still full, but there were flies hovering all around the rotten meats. It made sense why no one would take any, Light thinks as he pinches his nose while he walks past. Then, there’s the medicine aisle. A lot had been taken, only leaving few minor first aid items left. Light stares at everything before grabbing a plastic bag, beginning to fill it up with what he thinks they needed. Couldn’t hurt to get some supplies while they’re here. It didn’t look like Linda’s here anyway. Maybe L had more luck. 

Well, that’s what Light would like to believe. Truthfully, Light doubted Linda was still alive. Yes, he was wrong about whether or not his family was alive but the circumstances now are different. She’s a young girl, out alone with no form of weaponry. They said she was smart, but that can only take her so far against biters. Light could never admit this outloud to L, neither could the rest of the group. Somehow, though L probably knew deep inside that the chances of her survival are low. He hoped he was wrong again. This was a little girl’s life after all. Light lets out a heavy sigh, then grabs a package of gummy worms before pausing. He stares at them for a moment before a soft smile graces his features.

These were Sayu’s favorite as a child. When she was younger, she ate so many one time that got sick and scared the living hell out of her parents and Light. They rushed her to the hospital. Light chuckles softly. After that, their mother never bought them for her again but Sayu always found ways to get a hold of them. Light’s shoulder slumps at the thought of his mother. After everything.. He really didn’t get time to grief properly, his mind was everywhere at all times. It was difficult. Light sighs quietly, dropping the gummy worms into the bag. Sayu’ll like them. They need something positive in their lives, even if that positivity comes in the form of colored candy plastic tasting mini bears. 

Light turns to look at the other items before suddenly an arm shoots out of the other side, grabbing Light by his forearm. He flips around quickly to see a biter trying to climb out from the  other side of the wall. Light screams, trying to tug his arm away from it but its grip tightens. The biter opens its mouth,  moving it closer to take a large bite. Light cries out, tugging harder to get his arm away, his arm burning with the pressure of the tug-of-war between them. He raises a leg, kicking the magazine stand into the biter, forcing it to let go. Light stumbles out of  balance, crying out from a moment before crawling back up and running out the front door. He grips onto the bag like his life depended on it, dashing down the street. Light doesn’t stop when the Biter bursts out the door, he doesn’t stop when two more come out of the alleyway. He doesn’t stop when he hears someone call out for him. 

He only stops when he makes it to the car. Light flings open the door and crawls inside, locking the car immediately. Then, he realizes his heart is beating. It’s beating so fast. He can hardly breathe. It hurts. It hurts so bad. Light looks down and sees the bag. Inside the snacks  he got. The top of it is the bag of gummy worms. Brightly colored and positive. Light stares at them. Positive. That’s what they were supposed to be.  He nearly got killed, just for some positivity. See if he could get Sayu to smile. Light feels his eyes water. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. He lets out a sob loudly, covering his eyes with his hands. Light begins to bawl.  Like he should’ve when his mom died, and when he thought he was going to die the first time. The second and third time too. 

This isn’t fair. Why’s this happening to them? Why Light and his family? They were good people. Soichiro was a good cop who helped everyone, his mother was a housewife who loved her kids. Sayu was a good daughter and sister who got along with everyone. Why? Why is this happening? Light brings his knees to his chest, holding them tightly. He continues breathing heavily. The driver’s door opens and L steps inside. 

“Are you alright?” He asks. 

“No,” Light admits, “This isn’t fair.”

L doesn’t say anything for a second. He looks down at the bag, analyzing it for a moment before glancing back up at Light.

“What happened?” 

Light bites his lip, feeling his eyes well up once more. “I nearly died again.” 

“There’s biters?” 

All Light gives him is another nod, rubbing furiously at his eyes. L watches him quietly, then turns on the car and reverses the car out of the town. They’re quiet for the majority of the trip. Only Light’s sobbing echoing through the car. Eventually he can’t summon the energy to cry anymore. So, he lays his head against the door, staring at the farm land silently. His eyes burning from all the tears.

“No sign of Linda?” Light finally asks.

L shakes his head, “None. You said there were biters. Were any young girls?” 

“No.” Light responds. 

“So, she could still be alive.” 

“Maybe.” The car falls into silence once more.

Eventually, they make it back to the church. The others had set up a little campfire outside the church and were currently roasting some nuts. Also, listening to Matsuda tell some stupid ghost story he came up with to try and scare the kids. It’s not working. Near notices them walking over and takes this as his cue to interrupt Matsuda from boring him to death.

“Did you find Linda?” 

L shakes his head. The mood visibly tenses. Light trots meekly over to his father and Sayu, sitting by them. Mello turns his head to the bag.

“What’s in the bag?” He hums.

“Supplies.” Light responds blankly.

With that, he reaches into the bag and pulls out the food and medicine one by one. The kids and Matsuda start opening the bags. Soichiro scolds them, taking the bags away quickly. They had to save some of it, letting the kids (and Matsuda) devour them was a dumb idea. Watari was looking at the medicines, checking the expiration dates and what not. Light stares quietly into the bag, before pulling out the gummy bears.

“Sayu,” He says, “This is for you.” 

Sayu glances over, seeing the gummy bears and her eyes sparkle. They sparkle like they hadn’t for a long time. 

“No way, Light!” She grins, grabbing them. “You’re the best!”

She wraps her arms around Light’s neck and hugs him. Soichiro looks over and sees the gummi bears, opening his mouth to argue about letting Sayu eat them but when he sees the redness in his son’s eyes and the happiness in his daughter’s; he can’t bring himself too. Light hugs her back meekly before she lets go and tears open the bag, throwing one of them into her mouth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get some new characters this chapter! :D Our boys at Wammy's~ Also, a lot happened this chapter. ;-; At least the story is beginning to pick up now.
> 
> Leave a comment~ It makes an author's day. :D


	8. Chapter 8

When morning came, Watari along with Matsuda went out to look for Linda. L demanded he went with them but a stern look from Watari and some scolding got him to stay. The four children are talking to each other. Sayu had made up with them for pulling her down so suddenly earlier.

“So,” Sayu blinks, “You’re telling me you three are L’s successors?”

“Yeah.” Mello opens up a chocolate bar.

Near messes with his toy robot, “ _ Were. _ We were L’s successors. Now, the title wouldn’t mean anything.”

Sayu nods slowly, then glances over at Matt. He’d been the one to catch her when Mello dragged her in. Right now, the boy is playing on a Nintendo. She could hear the Mario music playing from it. 

“Whatcha playin’?” Sayu smiles at him. He doesn’t respond.

Mello snorts, “Don’t bother trying to make conversation with him when he’s on that thing. It’s like talking to a rock.” 

Sayu raises an eyebrow, before crawling over to his side and peeking at the game. She had to sate her curiosity somehow. The boy’s in the middle of a boss battle. Bowser’s throwing turtle shells at Mario, who’s hopping over each one fluidly. Mario suddenly grabs one of the turtle shells and flings it over at Bowser. It hits Bowser, making him hit the wall and fall onto the floor in a daze. Mario then runs up and bounces on Bowser’s head a couple of times before Bowser sits up and throws Mario back. This process repeats a few times before Bowser breaks in tears and runs off, completing the boss level. Mario turns towards the screen and holds out a thumbs up before the scoreboard pops up. Matt got a perfect score! 

“Hey, nice job!” Sayu grins, “I could never get through this level perfectly.”

Matt blinks then turns to face her, “You just have to keep jumping over the turtle shells.” 

“But he always throws them at weird times. It’s hard to pick up the pattern!” Sayu pouts. 

“There’s a pattern.” Matt starts the boss battle again, “Watch.” 

Sayu leans in to the screen, watching intently. The first two shells are thrown very far apart and slowly, then Bowser throws more out at increasing speeds before slowing down again. Then speeding up once more. Sayu frowns. There isn’t a pattern here. It’s random. All the shells are going at different speeds. 

Matt glances at her, “Don’t see it?”

“It’s not a matter of  not seeing it. There’s not one.” Sayu folds her arms. 

Matt smiles, “1 1 4 4 4 2 2 3 3 3 3 1 1 4 4 4 2 2.”

“What?” She blinks.

“One is the slowest speed, four is the fastest. He throws out two slows one, then three super fast ones. Two medium slow, then four medium fast. Then the pattern repeats.” 

“How did you notice that?” Sayu stares at the turtles beginning to slowly notice the speeds, “Two and three seem like the same speed.” 

“That’s cause you’re not looking at them individually, but the whole thing. Look at each turtle. The next one is a two, and the one after it is a three.” 

Sayu watches each turtle fly by one by one. One one four four four two two - She grins, “I can see it! I can see the pattern!”

“There you go!” Matt chuckles, “They always do that to try and trick players. There’s so many shells flying out that most don’t pay attention, so they mess up the timing. Everything in video games has a pattern though.”

“Everything?” Sayu raises an eyebrow, “What about randomizers?”

“Even those have specific mathematical probabilities they work with. If you know it, you can guess what item you’re gonna get.” Matt hums. 

Mello raises an eyebrow, watching the interaction between them. Leave it to Matt to notice those things about video games. Mello turns away, spotting Near sitting by the church doors while staring out. He walks over to him, putting his hands on his hips.

“What are you thinking about, Sheep?” 

Near turns his gaze over to Mello quietly, “Linda.” 

Mello presses his lips together tightly. He’s probably watching to see if she comes back. Mello lets out a sigh. This was his fault. He’s the one who said someone needed to go and get supplies. When he offered to go, Matt refused saying that if Mello went then Matt went but they needed to stay there to wait for L. Plus, they couldn’t leave Near alone. The guy had no prior practice fighting. He’d always skipped out on the physical tests at Wammy’s. So, when Linda said she’d go alone Mello didn’t argue. She’s smart and could protect herself against biters. Mello gave her one of his knives as well. To be honest, she should’ve been back after an hour. Mello bites his lip and sits down on the church’s staircase.

“Do you think she’s dead?” Mello mumbles.

“The probability that she’s alive are-” Near begins but Mello scoffs, interrupting the younger male.

“This has got nothing to do with probability or statistics, Near. I just want to know if you think she’s alive. If she’s dead, that’s on us. We sent her out there.” Mello says. 

Near is quiet for a second before looking down, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Mello raises an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know if she’s alive. I want her to be, though.” 

Near twists the toy robot’s arm. Mello frowns, watching him. Linda was the only who was nice to Near back at Wammy’s, wasn’t she? He’d want the only person who showed him kindness to be okay. Mello bites his lip before sighing, putting his hand on Near’s head. The white-haired male lets out a yelp and turns to stare at Mello’s hand. Mello smirks playfully before ruffling and messing up the other’s hair. Near huffs and tries to fix his hair. Mello laughs lightly, opening his mouth to say something but stopping when L walks past him. The two top successors turn their heads, watching as L heads inside the church. They look at each other before returning to listening to Matt talk to Sayu.

Inside the church, Light’s sat in the pews. He’s staring up at the altar, lost  in thought. L trots over to him. The boy hasn’t spoken to anyone all day. Soichiro expressed his concern to L, trying to figure out what happened when they were out. L only shook his head to the worried father before going to check on Light himself. This brought L to where he is now, struggling to find a topic to talk about. It’s peculiar how Light made the detective stumble around for words.

“Do you believe in an omnipotent being?” Light suddenly asks. The boy  turns to face him. So, he knew he was there. L bites his lip, then moves to sit down next to Light.

He turns his gaze towards the altar, “I don’t know. There’s evidence for  both sides.”

“If a God exists, he’s an asshole.” Light huffs. 

L blinks, “Based on what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Take a look around, L. The world is in complete  shambles.”

The detective pauses, before turning towards the altar. The statue of Jesus  Christ crucified stands at the very top. L wonders if this is all God’s punishment for the sins Humanity has committed over the years. It didn’t make sense though. L could admit that he’s done many things that are unforgivable over the years. He probably did deserve a punishment, but there were people who hadn’t done anything worse than tell a lie. What about children? They weren’t here on this Earth long enough to sin; they don’t deserve it. L looks at Light. The Yagami’s are a good family. Soichiro’s a good noble police officer. Sayu’s a young innocent girl, and Light’s a smart generous teenager. Then, there was their mother.. L didn’t know her, but he got a feeling she was a great person too.

So..If this is truly God’s wrath, then God is unfair. Unjust. An asshole. L  stops in his thoughts to laugh. Light turns towards him, raising an eyebrow. As if asking what the detective found so funny. L let his laughter die quietly, before laying his head against Light’s shoulder.

He smiles up at Light, “We’ll be okay.” 

Light feels his cheeks color a little before staring down at his lap. Will they though? He wanted things to be. Light turns to face the detective who’s still resting his head on Light’s shoulder. The boy’s eyes trail to L’s hands and he got the strong urge to take his hand in his. Light blushes a little at the thought, quickly glancing away from L. What a childish thought. How old is he? Twelve? A sigh escapes him. L glances at him, opening his mouth to ask if he was alright only to be silenced by a piercing scream. Light pales, standing up quickly pulling the detective up with him.

The two race out of the church to see the children crawling away as fast  as they could from about five biters. Mello lifts himself off the ground, grabbing Near tugging the smaller boy up. Sayu yelps as one of the biters trips right beside her and reaches to get her. She kicks it back, quickly pushing herself off the ground. Light runs over, taking her wrist and shoving her behind him. L takes Matt, holding the young one protectively. Soichiro comes out from behind the biters, holding up his gun towards one. Light spots him and takes out his own gun. 

“Don’t,” L whispers, “There’s only five. We shouldn’t waste  bullets.”

Soichiro pauses then nods, slowly putting his gun away and backing off  from them. Light watches as L moves his shirt out of the way and takes out a blade. He feels his heart drop. Soichiro spots the knife before sneaking towards the biters. He whistles, getting all of them to turn and begin following him. Sayu clings to Light, watching as L flings  forward stabbing one in the head. It falls limb. The second biter next to it turns in L’s direction, only for the detective to stab it and throw it to the side. Blood sprayed onto L’s shirt and coated the knife. Three more. 

Their father lets one catch up to him, suddenly lunging at the biter before  tossing it in L’s direction. L captures the biter in his grasp and thrusts the knife into its head. He pulls the knife out, looking at Soichiro who still has a biter following him. The detective moves forward, only for something to force him backwards.

“ _ L! _ ” Mello screams. 

He whips around to see one of the last biters behind him. It lunges at him  knocking him off his feet. L drops the knife, making it fly over to the side. The two of them tumble over the ground roughly. L feels his heart pounding in his chest as he keeps the biter’s mouth away from him. He couldn’t hear anything anymore and his eyes stay trained on the biter above him. L’s arms begin to burn and he could feel his grip weakening. Damn it! L can’t die here! He promised Light that they’d be okay. L loses his grip and the biter opens its jaw, descending towards the detective. He closes his eyes tightly, biting his lip. No.. damn it! Then, the biter collapses against L.

The detective pauses briefly, then reopens his eyes to see the biter being  lifted off of him. Light throws the biter to the side. In his palm is L’s knife. L stares at him, before remembering Soichiro! He grabs the blade out of Light’s hand, flipping around before stopping seeing Soichiro had already killed it with the help of Mello. The boy had a hidden pocket knife. L gulps a little, then turns back around to face Light. Suddenly, Light throws himself over L and wraps his arms around L’s neck in a tight hug.

L blinks in shock, staring blankly at Light. What’s happening? Why is  Light hugging him? The auburn male holds onto him, “I was so scared.” 

“Scared?” L parrots quietly. “Why?”

“Well, y’know.. you almost died.” Light looks at him, a gentle blush over  his cheeks. He still holds onto the detective tightly. 

“I suppose.” L mutters, staring at the younger male. The detective isn’t used to such intimate contact. Light watches him carefully, before standing up and holding his hand out for L. He immediately misses Light’s contact, but nonetheless takes the boy’s hand and pulls himself up.

The albino walks up to the five bodies, examining them carefully. He sits up and turns to face the group.

“None of these are Linda.” Near says.

The group all let out sighs of relief. Thank goodness.  Then, from the top  of the hill Matsuda and Watari make their way down. Matsuda waves  enthusiastically, getting everyone’s attention. Watari is smiling too. They’re bringing back good news. When, they get towards the group they waste no time in telling them what they found.

Matsuda grins, “We were searching on foot in the woods that are South of t he town and we found this attached to a tree!”

The police officer pulls out a sticky note with writing on it. He hops over  excitably and hands the sticky note to L. The detective reads the note out loud to the entire group.

 

“ _ Near, Matt, and Mello. If you’re reading this, it means you guys had to  _ _ leave the Church for some reason right? I got trapped inside the town by the dead, but I was rescued. They’ve taken me to their farm. If you go directly east from where you found this, you’ll find the farm. I hope to see you soon. - Linda” _

 

There’s a different kind of atmosphere now. A brighter one. Easier to  breathe. Near silently heads over to L and carefully extracts the note from L’s grasp. After a second of reading through it, Near states that this is Linda’s handwriting. Light feels a smile beginning on his cheeks. There’s hope filling the group now. Light didn’t know who Linda is, but he’s glad that she’s okay.

L speaks quickly, “Pack your things. We’re going.”

The group all scatter around the church, grabbing bags and things they  needed. By the time, everyone is done two hours had passed. L is staring up at the sun. He wishes he had kept a watch. While he could tell the time with the sun, a watch is much more convenient. That’s when Light trots over to him, holding his bag on his shoulder. L glances over, before seeing a watch strapped onto the boy’s wrist.

“You have a watch!” L perks up.

Light blinks, “Yeah, my dad gave it to me at graduation.”

Graduation, huh? Right.. before all this, Light lived a normal life. He  went to school, hung out with friends, probably had some girlfriends.. L bites his lip. He wonders what Light was like before all of this. What kind of people did he hang out with it? What kind of friends did he have? Who did he date? Does he have a type? What’s his favorite food? What did he like to study? Did he have any hobbies? The rest of the group arrives as these questions fill L up. He shakes his head, trying to get rid of them. Right now, he has to focus on Linda.

“We’ve only got two hours of daylight left. The plan is to use them to  drive through the town. Then, we’ll camp out in the woods till sunrise and we’ll make a trek to the farm.”

“Won’t it be faster to just travel through the woods throughout the night?”  Mello tilts his head.

Watari looks at the blond, “We run the risk of running into biters and not  being able to see them.”

“I guess.” Mello shrugs.

They trudge their way back up to the highway they left the car in. As they  went up, Light counts how many people there are. Eight. They couldn’t fit everyone in the car that Watari had brought. Even before they got Matt, Mello, and Near they were squished in the car with each other. Then, they’ll be adding Linda giving them nine. They definitely need more cars. Luckily for them, the highway is loaded with abandoned cars. Light glances at L, nudging him to get his attention. L turns to him.

“I think we should split the group up with cars. So we’re not all jammed  into Watari’s.” Light says.

L nods, “How many will we need?”

“Maybe one or two more.” 

Mello overhears the two and runs over, “Can I drive for one of the cars? I  know how too!”

L turns to him and opens his mouth to protest before something dawns o n him, “You’re only fourteen. The age for learning is seventeen in England. Why in the world do you know how too?”

Mello grins innocently, batting his eyelashes at L. Watari looks over before groaning, “I told Roger to make sure none of you get in any trouble!”

“Technically, Roger doesn’t know. There’s no trouble for him to stop me from getting into.” Mello sticks out his tongue before turning to L, “So can I?”

Sayu turns to Matt, “He’s really bordering the edge of criminal, isn’t he?”

Matt snickers, “Bordering? He’s already gone past it.”

They all manage to finish their hike up the hill and get onto the highway. 

Due to Light’s request, the group starts rummaging through the cars. Matsuda pulls open a car, wincing as a corpse falls out of the front seat. This is going to take some time getting used too. Soichiro frowns, watching everyone open up cars and take the supplies. He folds his arms, pressing his lips together tightly. Watari looks over.

“Is something the matter, Yagami-san?” He walks over.

Soichiro watches as Light and Sayu drag out the body of a man out of his  car before digging into the car’s compartments, “This feels wrong.. We’re grave robbing right now.”

Watari pauses then smiles wearily, “I understand what you mean. It’s not  easy to do this myself.”

“Then how do you?” Soichiro turns to face him.

Watari stares as L pulls out a first aid kit from a car and then running over  to show Light his discovery. “It helps me to think that these people would’ve wanted us to have it to aid us in our survival.”

Soichiro stares quietly at the old man. The elderly man smiles at Soichiro  one more time before going to search the rest of the cars. Soichiro glances over at a car, before opening it. He hopes that Watari is right. That these people wherever they are would want them to have their supplies.

“Woohoo!” Mello’s voice is followed by the roaring of a motorcycle. The  group turns in the direction of the noise. Mello had snagged himself a motorcycle and maneuvered himself over to the group. Matt whistles, running over to him.

“Where’d you find her?” Matt grins.

Mello smirks, “Found her abandoned to the side.”

“Her?” Sayu blinks, turning to Near who shrugs. Boy talk is so weird. 

L folds his arms, “Get off, Mello. It’s too dangerous.”

“What?” Mello whines, “I’m fine, L. Come on, let me drive her!”

L raises an eyebrow, “No. You’re not even supposed to know how to  drive.”

Mello pouts, holding onto the motorcycle and keeping his gaze on L. He  really wanted to drive the motorcycle, but L isn’t giving it up. Light glances between them before walking over to the motorcycle. Mello and L watch him as he examines the motorcycle for a second. Then, he looks up at L.

“Let him have it,” Light smiles, “He’s got a spot to hang all of his stuff,  plus one more person can sit here.” 

“But..” L frowns.

Mello grins, “See! Come on, L!”

L opens his mouth, before gazing at the black and silver motorcycle. It  did seem like it could be useful. They’d only have to take one more car if he’d let Mello have the motorcycle. 

“Fine..” L sighs.

Mello smiles brightly, “Thank you so much!”

When they managed to scavenge all the supplies they can find, they split  up the groups into cars. Watari takes Matsuda, Soichiro, and Sayu. Mello nudges Matt, motioning for him to get on the bike. Matt shakes his head.

“Sorry. I promised Sayu, I’d allow her to play on one of my games.” Matt  smiles awkwardly, before climbing into the car next to her.

Near stares awkwardly at Watari’s car. It’s completely full now. He  glances at Light and L, who fill the backseats of their car with the group’s supplies. They climb into the front seats, closing the doors. Near frowns, clinging to his toy robot. Mello looks over at him and lets out a sigh, driving over to Near. He pats the seat behind him, then glances up at Near. The albino blinks at them, silently questioning if he’s sure before climbing onto the back of the bike. Near quietly wraps his arms around Mello’s torso. 

Then, the group takes off. Watari leading the group out of the highway,  with L following behind and Mello in the furthest back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie. A lot happened Chapter 8. But at least we know about Linda's whereabouts ;D. Also am I the only one who loves the image of Mello in a motorcycle? Like yes that shit works so well. Thanks for reading though. lol.
> 
> Leave a comment~ It makes an author's day.


	9. Chapter 9

The sun has long set and they were still on the road. Light looks out at the  side-view mirror. Near had set his head on Mello’s back. They stare out at the wilderness together in content, occasionally whispering to each other. Light smiles softly, then turns to face L.

“They get along pretty well, huh?” 

L blinks, “Near and Mello? Absolutely not. Mello despised Near before  all this started.”

“Seriously? Wow.. you can’t really tell.” Light tilts his head.

“I’m quite perplexed myself. This isn’t normal behavior for them both.”

Light hums, “Well, people change after.. y’know, the world ends. Trivial  things don’t really matter anymore.” 

The auburn lays against the window, gazing out. L watches him from his  peripheral vision. All the questions from before begin flooding L again. If people change, what was Light like before? L frowns slightly. He wanted to know, but he didn’t know why. All of his work dealing with criminals, he’s never been this curious about a person. It’s not like he’s constructing a profile either. He just.. wanted to get to know Light. L presses his lips together and stares the road ahead. 

“I...Light-kun?” 

“What is it?” Light responds.

L’s cheeks color a slight pink, “If you were to want to get to know someone.. What kind of things would you ask?” 

“Um,” Light blinks before smiling playfully, “..Who are you trying to get to know? If you haven’t noticed, there’s only person in the car with you right now-” Oh. “You want to get to know me?” 

L stays quiet, keeping his eyes on the road. The detective’s cheeks were still a light pink. Light grins. Someone’s flustered. Light teasingly thinks. Still.. He should help the poor guy out anyway. How to get to know someone, huh? 

“How about twenty questions?” Light hums. 

“Twenty questions?” L glances over.

“Yeah,” Light beams, “It’s simple. One person asks a question, the second person answers. Then, we switch.”

“Do we stop at twenty questions?” 

“We don’t technically have too. We can still continue, but it gives us a good amount if we do want to stop at twenty.”

L nods quietly, wracking his brain around questions he could ask the other male. Light smiles faintly at him.

“What’s your favorite color?” He asks.

“Blue,” L responds before blinking, “What’s yours?”

“Red,” Light hums, “What’s your favorite food?”

“Strawberry Cheesecake,” L pauses thinking of a question before turning to Light. “Do you have any hobbies?” 

“Tennis. I was the Japanese Junior National Tennis Champion for two  years.” 

L smiles faintly. Something they had in common! “I, as well. Actually I  was the British Junior Champion.”

“Seriously? Remind me to find two tennis rackets and a ball so we can  play.”

L notes that in the back of his mind. He’d love to play with the other  male. Normally, to him titles such as Champion don’t matter to him. Many people with that title had challenged him and he’d still won. Light, though.. he got the idea that Light wouldn’t disappoint him with his skills. He hopes Light gets a hold of that equipment soon. 

“It’s my turn now, right? How about..” Light thinks for a moment before  turning to face L, “Are you afraid of anything?”

L stares ahead at Watari’s car. He recalls the conversation with the 

children he had back at Wammy’s house. When Linda asked him if he was afraid of anything. He had told her -

“Monsters.” L says outloud.    


“..Monsters?” Light snorts, “Like.. ghosts or  _ shinigami _ ?”   


“I was thinking more along the line of human monsters. You know,  criminals. Murderers. The sort, but the supernatural is quite terrifying too. It’s a phenomenon that can’t be explained by logic.” L explains, watching the younger boy’s face twist as he takes in what L says. He then bursts into laughter.

“You seriously believe in that stuff, L?” Light laughs before noticing that  the older male was glaring at him, he tries to cover his mouth but the damage had been done. “Come on, L. The supernatural isn’t real.” 

“Can you give me definitive proof that it isn’t?” L huffs.   


Light rolls his eyes, “Can you give me definitive proof that it is?”   


“So, you believe that unless you have cold hard proof in something. It  isn’t true?”

“Is that not how it works?” Light raises an eyebrow.   


“Not always, I’ve found. For example, you could be a murderer with the  ability to kill without being there in person. How would one prove that you’re a murderer?”

“Why do  _ I _ have to be the murderer?” Light huffs, “But, in that case..  seeing is believing, right? If you can witness me kill without being there, that’s proof there. Your next move would be to figure out how exactly and to capture me in the act.” 

“Seeing is believing. Does that not apply for the supernatural?” L hums.   


Light blinks, “Are you implying you’ve seen..?”   


“Yes, I am.”    


He’s not serious, is he? Light gapes at him. The world’s greatest detective  is claiming to have seen an apparition? How is Light supposed to react to something like this? Light firmly believed that something like ghosts can’t exist. It doesn’t logically make sense, but if someone like L said they existed..  _ No _ . Just ‘cause L says so doesn’t mean it’s true. Even if he’s never been wrong before in any of his cases.

“I don’t believe you,” Light huffs, “Plenty of people claim they’ve seen  spirits. While, it’s true that not all of them are lying. It could be their eyes tricking them. Y’know, it’s nighttime time and you think you’re seeing things because of your fear.”

“What if I spoke to it?”    


“You were probably dreaming.” Light counters.   


L raises an eyebrow, “Do I look like I sleep to you?”   


“Hallucination from your insomnia.” 

L groans. He’s so stubborn. Light folds his arms, watching L as if  challenging to argue with him. The detective rolls his eyes, deciding not to take the bait. They were still playing the game, weren’t they? 

“Let’s just continue the game,” L sighs before continuing their game,

“What occupation were you working for before the world’s end?”

“Well, I wanted to work for the NPA as a detective and well..” Light trails off.

“And?”

“Well, I wanted.. I wanted to work alongside L at one point.” Light  admits, blushing faintly. While the dream is pretty honorable, saying it to the actual guy is way more embarrassing than Light thought it would be. He hopes that the detective wouldn’t make fun of him.

He doesn’t. L instead smiles kindly at the male, nodding in response. 

Light messes with the cuffs on his shirt before muttering, “My turn now-..”

“It seems we’ve made it to the entrance of the woods.” L interrupts,  “Let’s finish our game later, Light-kun.” 

Light nods, and L brings the car to a stop. They both exit from their  vehicle. Everyone in Watari’s car hops off, Sayu and Matt running over to Light and L while the adults begin unloading the cars. Mello catches up on his bike, turning it off. Near climbs off and lifts his bag.

“So, are we entering the forest?” He asks.

“We should sleep till the morning,” Sayu yawns, “The woods at night are  dangerous.”

“You’re just being lazy.” Matt raises an eyebrow, smirking as she rubs her  eyes.

“Yeah, a little bit.” She grins.

Watari ruffles their hairs, “She’s right. We should rest.”

Matsuda blinks, “There’s not nearly enough room in the cars without  everyone waking up in the morning with back problems.”

“I think that’s the least of our worries, Matsuda.” L rolls his eyes.

The officer sheepishly shrugs, “I think I saw a house a mile back. We can  shack there for the night..”

“What are we standing here for then?” Mello exclaims, “Let’s go!”

They all lock their vehicles in place, before making their way to the house  Matsuda had spotted. The home is a little bit outside of the town. It’s a quaint house with a white picket fence. L opens up the gate, running through the lawn and over to the window. It was open. He leans his head in and gazes around at the inside. L looks back at his group and nods to them. Soichiro sneaks over to the door and turns the knob. Open. Light and Matsuda pull out their guns and enter the house, back to back as they look around. First the living room, then the kitchen, then the bathrooms, and finally the upstairs. Nothing. No biters. Matsuda runs down the stairs back over to the front door.

“It’s clear.” He says.

The rest of the group joins the two inside. Soichiro and Watari  barricading the door with a bookcase. Just in case. The children run to the kitchen. Their stomachs getting the better of them. L heads up the stairs, searching to see what Light had gotten up too. They definitely could stay here for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short unfortunately. It's a lot of L and Light talking, but hopefully it's as cute as I hoped it to be. lmao. Next chapter is also gonna be pretty lax. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Leave a comment~ It makes an author's day. :D


	10. Chapter 10

“Light-kun?” L calls softly, walking through the hallway. 

He peeks into a room. It seems to be a girl’s room. The room is painted  bright pink with  almost everything princess themed. The bed, the carpet, the posters on the wall. There were Barbie dolls and a miniature dollhouse on the floor that had been abandoned. Light is obviously not in here. L quietly closes the door. Where could Light be? The detective frowns, walking further in while checking all the rooms. L goes to check the master bedroom last, going to open up the door and -

_ “Boo!”  _ Something grabs L’s shoulders from behind. The detective shrieks, flipping  around to fight what he thought was a biter only to find the auburn haired male. Light bursts into laughter.

“You should have seen your face!” Light howls, speaking between laughs.

L gapes at the younger male for a second before growling, “That was a terrible idea on  your part, Light-kun! What if I had attacked you?!” 

“Then I would’ve defended myself,” Light grins, “Scaredy cat.”

“Is that the best insult you can come up with? For your information, I wasn’t  _ scared,  _ we  just happen to be living in a world where if something grabs you from behind, you’re more than likely dead.” 

“Now, you’re just making up excuses.” Light teases, “Scaredy cat.” 

“You’re insufferable.” L glares.

Light sticks his tongue out in a childish manner continuing his ruthless teasing. L throws  a kick right for Light’s head, which the younger male barely manages to dodge. The detective’s foot hitting the wall behind Light instead with a satisfying crack. Except not to L, because it wasn’t Light’s face it hit.

Light grins at his victory, “Y’know, L. They say that the first one to resort to violence is the loser-”

The detective dives for Light, who ducks in time and dashes out of L’s  way. Light runs for the master bedroom and L takes off after him, voicing threats of what he’s going to do to him once he catches up. The auburn haired male gets inside of the room, going to climb over the bed as a means of escape but L gets to him faster. Light lets out a playful shriek as L catches his waist in his arms and lifts him off the bed.  The younger boy tries wrestling out of L’s grip but that only resulted in the two of them wobbling around the bedroom together. Their laughters echoing throughout the house.

L smirks, reaching his hands over to Light’s sides  furiously beginning to  tickle him. Light bursts into involuntary laughter and immediately tries grabbing at L’s hands, begging for him to stop between laughs. L chuckles at the other’s dismay, tickling the boy even faster. Light whines and turns to push himself away, in the process getting their legs tangled together. In between the wobbling and tickling, L couldn’t keep his balance and the two effectively come tumbling down on the bed. L on top of Light. The younger boy silently cheers in relief over the end of the attack; his cheeks red from being out of breath and while he wouldn’t admit it, also from L being on top of him. Light pants slightly, trying to catching his breath. The detective pulls himself up, just in time to see Light reaching to grab the pillow.

“No, you don’t!” He grins, grabbing the boy’s wrist and pulling the hand back. With his elbow, he pushes the pillow out of Light’s reach before taking the boy’s free hand and holding him against the bed before he could struggle more. 

Light huffs, “Damn you..” 

“Just take your punishment already.” L smirks, switching to holding Light’s wrists with one hand against the bed. He uses his free hand and pulls Light’s shirt up.

“Don’t!” Light whines.

“Too late to start begging now.” L presses his fingers against Light’s stomach, trailing it down making the younger male squirm. “Are you ready, Light-kun?” 

“Please..” Light bites his lip, pulling his best puppy dog eyes. L only smirks, making the boy lose any hope of mercy. The detective moves his hand to Light’s side. Light closes his eyes, bracing myself before-

The door flings open, “Hey guys!”

They both turn towards the door simultaneously, where Matsuda is  staring dumbfounded. The officer blinks at the two of them, stumbling over his words as he observed the scene in front of him. L is holding Light down against the bed with the younger male’s shirt halfway off and the detective’s hand suspiciously close to Light’s pants. Both of them now blushing profusely.

“I am  _ so _ sorry.” Matsuda slams the door closed.

Light stares for a second, taking in what just happened before lunging  away from the detective while fixing his shirt aggressively. L watches him quietly, irritated at the loss of the playful atmosphere.

“What did you want, Matsuda?” L sighs.

Matsuda’s voice sounds from behind the door, “I just wanted to tell you  guys that we have electricity in this house and the water works.. So, if you wanted to shower you can. We can even wash our clothes!”

Light perks up at the idea of a shower and clean clothes. L holds back a  chuckle. Germaphobe. Matsuda continues talking, “We even found ingredients in the fridge. Watari is thinking on what to make for everyone to eat.”

L raises an eyebrow, “Shouldn’t we store the food?”

Matsuda laughs from the other side, “Yeah, I guess but.. The guy wanted to make dinner  for everyone for the normalcy. Who am I to say no, right?”

The two stay quiet. There’s nothing normal about this situation. They’ve  snuck into someone’s home, plan to use their appliances only to leave in the morning. 

Matsuda chirps, “We’ll call you when they’ve finished making dinner.”

The officer’s footsteps start and slowly drown away as he gets further  away. 

“Normal, huh?” L mutters, “What a rotten normal.”

“Are you implying you don’t want a hot shower and a meal?” Light hums.

“Well, I just think it’s wrong.. What do you think?”

“It sucks,” Light sits up before smirking, “But, I want that shower.” 

L rolls his eyes, plopping on the bed as Light leaves to go take a  shower. The younger male snags a set of clothing from the closet as he goes. The next few hours consists of everyone in and out of the showers, with the humming of the washing machine. Watari plates the table as he hears the shower turn off for the final time. 

“Dinnertime!” He calls.

One by one, everyone filters into the kitchen and take their seats at the  table. It didn’t take them long to begin eating. Each of them having their own individual conversations with each other. Dinner quietly went by, and everyone retreats into different rooms with full and content stomachs. Soichiro and Matsuda stay downstairs to watch the doors in case something happened. While the children split, with Matt and Sayu in the girl’s room and Mello and Near in the room right across. Watari takes the guest room, leaving L and Light with the master bedroom. Light walks inside the room, climbing into the bed. L stares at him quietly. Is it really okay to just.. slide in next to him? Light pulls the covers onto himself before turning to face L.

“You coming?” 

“Um,” L blushes faintly, “I suppose..”

L crawls onto the bed, moving closer to the younger male. He pulls the covers over himself, then rolls onto his side away from Light. The boy blinks. 

“Why are you facing away from me?”

“I figured you’d be uncomfortable with me staring at you all night.” 

Light raises an eyebrow, “Not if you’re sleeping.” 

“I’m not sure if you remember,” L hums, “But I have insomnia.” 

“You still need to sleep..” Light frowns.

Surely, he isn’t planning on staying up all night right? He needs to get  _ some _ rest. The detective shrugs quietly.

“It’s not that I don’t know I needing it, I just can’t.” He says.

“L.. come on. Is there anything I can do to get you to sleep?” Light sighs,   staring at L’s back.

“Watari used to drug me to get me to sleep.”

Light narrows his eyes, “That’s not healthy.”

The detective bounces his shoulders nonchalantly. Light pouts. The boy grabs the  detective’s shoulder, making it so L is facing him.

Light bites his lip, “Is there really nothing?”

L pauses, staring at him. Well, there is something but L isn’t entirely sure  Light would be willing. He turns his head away from the younger male, telling him to not worry and to just go to sleep. 

“Just tell me!” Light groans.

“You won’t want to do what it is that gets me to sleep.” 

Light huffs, “Try me.”

The detective flips over once more, keeping his gaze down against the  pillow. He could feel Light’s eyes on him, patiently waiting for the solution to L’s problem. Or at least, it was a problem in Light’s eyes. L didn’t particularly care if he slept or not. In fact, his insomnia should be helpful in the situation they’re in. He could keep watch - Light clears his throat, signaling his patience is running thin. 

L exhales quietly, “When I was young, I suffered from nightmares quite a 

bit. I found it difficult to go back to sleep out of pure fear. When Watari heard I was staying up, he used to..” The detective trails off.

“Used too..?” Light tilts his head.

“I was quite small at the time, you see.. It’s natural for me to have felt  comfort from such an action done by my only parental figure.” L folds his arms, avoiding meeting Light’s eyes.

Light raises an eyebrow feeling a small smile on his cheeks, “And what  was said action?” 

L blushes faintly, “Don’t make me say it..” 

The younger male chuckles before opening his arms wide, “Come here  you oversized child.”

L smiles softly at the younger male and shuffles closer to the awaiting arms. Light wraps L in his grasp and brings him closer, the detective gently slides his arm around Light’s side. It’s so warm. Light reaches with his free hand and pulls the covers over both of them. 

“Good night, Light-kun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AaAH. Sorry it's been so long for anyone who was waiting on this. Life was pretty rough for awhile. I reread this chapter and found a little cringey and that I could've done it better, but I wanted to get it out for anyone whose been waiting. lol. Sorry if at any point during this you cringe, it's all just disgusting fluff. The story should get better from here on out. I want to say I'm a little better now at writing, but only time will tell if that's true. haha. 
> 
> Please enjoy the chapter~


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